China first declared the area the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve (SNNR) in 2000. Then, in December2015, the Central Leading Group on Comprehensive Reform upgraded the region’s status to the SanjiangyuanNational Park (SNP) as a pilot for China’s new national park system. After this pilot was declared successful, the government established SNP within the first batch of five Chinese national parks.[1]

On 7 September 2023, China’s national legislature, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC), released the five-year legislative plan (2023-2028), which included a plan to consider the Law of National Parks during the period. 

The establishment of national parks has substantial impacts on the lands of Indigenous Peoples and their ways of life in China. China has established 49 national park candidate areas.

The Sanjiangyuan National Park is the largest national park in China. The park was established on Tibetan land. Itcovers the sources of three of Asia’s major rivers, the Yangzi, the Yellow, and the Mekong, and covers around190,700 square kilometers, or about 14 times the size of Yellowstone National Park in the US.

The park covers forest and grasslands crucial for the nomadic herding of Indigenous Peoples,covering more than 74% of that area.[2] In August 2023, the Sanjiangyuan National Park management bureau released a master plan for comprehensive protection.[3] According to this report, there are 115,597 people registered in the park, 97% of whom are Tibetan people.[4]

The establishment process and the master plan lack measures on how to respect Indigenous Peoples as rights-holders and contributors to park governance. According to the International Campaign for Tibet’s report, “National Parks, Rural Revitalization? A Report on the Future of Tibet’s Peopled Landscapes” notes “because they were not persuaded to move during village meetings, township officials visited Taklha and his family many times over the next three years for ‘thought work.’” According to Chinese government, the thought work is a work of rectification of “erroneous thinking” among the masses, which requires correction. Under Xi Jinping, thought work has become a major task for all cadres, firstly to align themselves with the Thought of the Core Leader, then to correct the thinking of the masses.[5] Many Tibetan peoples consent to the relocation under such coercion.[6]

National parks’ creation in China often comes with a reversal of nomads’ grazing rights through land grabs and forced relocations. While the establishment of national parks promotes China’s eco-credentials and “pristine” nature attracts tourists, there is no discussion in the public domain of the issue of dispossessing affected Indigenous communities of their rights.[7]