ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the pilot project of national parks in Yunnan Province based on a literature review and on my field research. I chose this project for field research mainly because Pudacuo National Park, which was designated in Yunnan Province in 2007, is applauded for being the ‘first national park’ in China. During the initial stage of my literature review in early 2012, the national park project in Yunnan Province did not attract my attention because I considered it mainly a local strategy, or even a trick, to attract more visitors and promote the tourism industry. After a search of ‘Chinese national parks’ online, a media report drew my attention: both Pudacuo National Park in Yunnan Province and Tangwanghe National Park in Heilongjiang Province claimed to be the first national parks in China. It soon became clear that the national park project in Yunnan might entail and indicate more than I had previously perceived. Aiming to conduct field research there, I began to search public information online, especially the contact information for the management authorities of national parks in Yunnan. Unfortunately, this effort was futile. I called several phone numbers provided online, but most of them were not answered. I then established contact with the local office of the Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Yunnan Province. TNC is a US-based environmental NGO that has played a key role in promoting the national park project in Yunnan. One researcher of the national park project, Ms. Jin, chatted with me via Skype. She then put me in contact with Ms. Wang, who was the manager of the national park project. I explained my research interests regarding how TNC collaborated with and mobilized governmental authorities in promoting the national park model in Yunnan. They showed great interest in my research and invited me to visit Yunnan. Initially, I hesitated about whether a visit to Yunnan was worthwhile because I had little contact with governmental officials or scholars there. In the summer of 2012, I presented a paper about the national park project in Yunnan Province, which was mainly based on a literature review, at an environmental law conference held at Wuhan University in China. Afterwards, following a recommendation from a law professor from Wuhan Law School, Ms. Du, I contacted two legal scholars working at a university in Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan Province, who had researched and published articles on the legal issues of national parks in Yunnan. I finally decided to target Yunnan as the object of my field research and paid a visit to Yunnan in September 2012.
