China's State Forestry Administration says the nation's forest parks received more than 200 million domestic and inbound tourists in 2006, an increase of 20% compared with the previous year.
The parks achieved a total of RMB80 billion in income, as well. According to SFA, China has 1928 forest parks throughout the country, which cover a total area of 1513 hectares. 17 of them have been listed as Natural Cultural Heritage sites by the United Nations, and 10 of them have been listed as World Geoparks.
In the past years, China's forest parks saw an annual 20% increase in tourist numbers and they helped the country create more than 3 million jobs.
China's forest park construction and forest tourism have made great headway since 1982 when the first national forest park Zhangjiajie Forest Park was established. The foundation of these parks not only helps the country protect its natural resources and ecological environment, but also contributes to promoting the local rural economies.
