The National Park on the Roof of Central China

Located in the northwestern part of Hubei, Shennongjia National Park is among the 14 key areas of international significance in the world in bio-diversity conservation and research. It is a gathering place of global biological living fossils and the sanctuary of ancient, rare and endemic species. As China's first place with four international designations (World Biosphere Reserve, Global Geopark, World Natural Heritage Site and Wetland of International Importance), it is praised as the green miracle at the latitude of 31°N.

On May 14, 2016, the National Development and Reform Commission approved the Implementation Plan for the Pilot Project of Shennongjia National Park. On November 17, 2016, the Administration of Shennongjia National Park was set up, indicating that Shennongjia entered the implementation stage of the national park pilot project .

The total area of the pilot Shennongjia National Park is 1,170 square kilometers, covering 25 villages in 5 towns including 8,047 households and a population of 20,325.

The protection targets of Shennongjia National Park have extremely high research value, which is mainly displayed in three aspects: First is its national representativeness. It has the best preserved evergreen and deciduous broadleaf mixed forest in the Northern Hemisphere, intact vertical zoning of vegetation in the mountain region of the north subtropical zone, and the largest, highest and best preserved north subtropical subalpine sphagnum moss swamps. It is an important distribution area of Golden Snub-nosed Monkey, a national treasure level key species. It has many endangered species and key wild plant species under state protection; and it is a "natural museum" of world-class changes in the geological history. Second is its authenticity. The forest coverage rate is up to 96%, among which more than 91.2% is natural forest. It is the only virgin forest area in Central China. Third is its integrity. It has a complete subtropical forest ecosystem, with 75 plant formations of 15 vegetation types in 5 vegetation type groups. It is a species gene bank with world-class bio-diversity, which boasts 11.7% of China’s vascular plant species though it only accounts for 0.01% of the total area of the country.