ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the pilot project of national parks in Yunnan Province based on a literature review and on field research. It examines the practice of the national park model with regard to the following four aspects: objectives, institutional structure, community development and legislation. Pudacuo has served as a successful example in at least showing how this new model of PA could be a vast economic success. The Management Bureau of Bita Lake and Shudu Lake, established in May 2005 during the preparatory stage of Pudacuo, was renamed Pudacuo National Park Management Bureau (PNPMB) in October 2006 after the park's debut. When the Nature Conservancy (TNC) lobbied Yunnan Province to introduce national parks, the national park model was perceived as a better model to balance use and conservation. Yunnan has the largest number of ethnic nationalities in China and is extremely culturally diversified. As envisioned, the purpose of tourism is to fund and underwrite conservation activities.
