Mount Huangshan

The Huangshan Administrative Committee in charge of Sites of Scenic and Historic Interest, comprising a workforce of 547 people, implements the 2007-2025 management for the conservation and management of the beauty and scenic resources of the site. These were divided into nine management zones, each zone having its own set of conservation regulations (IUCN Consultation, 2017). Cultivation, livestock grazing, fuel wood gathering, hunting, and industrial and mining enterprises are prohibited. Construction is also prohibited within the buffer zone if it is likely to impinge on the quality of the landscape (UNEP-WCMC, 2011). A Master Plan for the property is currently under implementation. Objectives of this plan are to balance conservation of the property with tourism promotion, to ensure the safeguarding of the scenic area within a framework of sustainable development for the local community, and to raise conservation management standards by “digitizing, systematizing, refining, and humanizing” the property’s management regime (World Heritage Committee, 2013).

Protection, conservation and management of the property have been strengthened by the establishment of the Management Committee of Huangshan Scenic Site directly under the authority of Huangshan Municipality (World Heritage Committee, 2013). In 1999, the HSAC was awarded the Melina Mercouri international prize for the safeguarding and management of culture landscapes by UNESCO, the first winner of this kind in Asia. In 2010, the HSAC was one of the three finalists for the Tourism for Tomorrow Award sponsored by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the first winner of this category in China (Huangshan Administrative Committee). The site remains well protected, but the large number of tourists in certain areas during holidays and festivals is a major management concern (UNEP-WCMC, 2011), albeit subject to numerous and comprehensive programs to mitigate the threats posed.

Huangshan covers an area of 16,060 ha with a buffer zone of 49,000 ha (HSCG, 2006). It measures 40 kilometers long from north to south and 30 kilometers wide from west to east (Huangshan Administrative Committee). The boundaries of the park and the buffer zone are clearly delineated (HSCG, 2006).

The Huangshan Administrative Committee in charge of Sites of Scenic and Historic Interest (also known as the Huangshan Scenic Area Administrative Committee (HSAC)) is an agency of the Huangshan Municipal People's Government which coordinates with Huangshan Municipal Forestry Bureau, Huangshan Municipal Natural Resources Planning Bureau, and Huangshan Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau (IUCN Consultation, 2020), and therefore ensures integration between different stakeholders relating to management activities of the site.

The core area is uninhabited with the exception of mountain hotel staff so relationships with local people within the site are limited (UNEP-WCMC, 2011). In 2007, 16 villages in 5 towns and 1 forest farm, under the jurisdiction of the Huangshan District, in the periphery of Mount Huangshan were classified within the buffer zone. The population of the 5 towns and 1 forest farm number 54,400 (IUCN Consultation, 2020). The master plan aims to safeguard the scenic area within a framework of sustainable development for the local community (World Heritage Committee, 2013). The cooperation between the Mount Huangshan and Huangshan District government has been fostered steadily, culminating in the signing of an official agreement with the aim to step up the management of the site and the local communities. According to the agreement, both sides agree to cooperate and coordinate on 18 areas, mainly forest fire control, pine wood nematode control, infrastructure planning and construction, tourism development and marketing, emergency response, and supply of local produce. In short, HSAC provides financial, technical and managerial support, and tourism development opportunities to the local communities in the buffer zone in exchange of their support and cooperation in forest fire and pine wood nematode control and compliance with the relevant HSAC regulations. An annual meeting between HSAC and representatives of the local communities is held to exchange views and discuss for better cooperation (IUCN Consultation, 2017) The local communities benefit substantially from the presence of the Mount Huangshan (Han et. al., 2017).

Huangshan is a World Natural and Cultural Heritage site and a National Scenic Area protected under the Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics (1982), the Forestry Law (1982), the Law on the Management of Scenic and Historic Interest Areas (1985), and the Law on the Protection of Wildlife (1988) (World Heritage Committee, 2013; HSCG, 2006). In practice the most relevant pieces of legislation are the Regulation on the management of the Huangshan Scenic Area (HAS), which was first adopted by the Anhui Province People’s Congress in 1989 and amended in 1997, 2006, 2010, and 2014, respectively (AHPC, 2014) and the Master Plan for the HSA approved by the State Council of the Chinese government (HSCG, 2006). More than 100 bylaws and regulations have been promulgated based on these this constitutional legislation, which forms the legal framework to govern the management of Mount Huangshan (HSAC, 2016).

Enforcement of the relevant regulations appears effective. Significant efforts are being taken to control visitation (IUCN Consultation, 2017). In the peak-day management practice, the number of people entering the mountain in the North Gate in winter is limited to less than 4,000. When the number of tourists entering the mountain reaches 80% of the maximum carrying capacity, an emergency plan is initiated, whereby early warning information is released to the outside, to persuade tourists to visit the surrounding scenic sites or to enter the mountain the next day. Other efforts include actively using marketing methods to balance the off-peak passenger flow in the off-season (IUCN Consultation, 2020).

With the onset of COVID-19, the park was closed on January 25. The park reopened to public on February 21 with a controlled number of daily visitors of 10,000. This number expanded to 20,000 on March 18 and decreased to 15,000 on April 15 in response to the advice from the national epidemic prevention agencies (IUCN Consultation, 2020). 

There have been no recent Decisions by the World Heritage Committee made with regards to this World Heritag site. The latest Decision is from 2013 when the retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value was adopted (World Heritage Committee, 2013).

Since no consumptive use of resources from the site is allowed, there are no problems with sustainable use, other than uses of the site for tourism and recreation, which are being addressed.

The available funding from ticket income and businesses run by the administrative unit is sufficient for adequate management of the site (ACMHSS, 2002). Tourist revenues are the main source of funds and total revenue for 2019 was RMB 309186.46 million (IUCN Consultation, 2020) and funds are also appropriated annually by central and local governments (UNEP-WCMC, 2011; IUCN Consultation, 2017).

There is a complement of 547 staff supported by a body of varying temporary workers (IUCN Consultation, 2017). The 2002 periodic report notes the need for staff training on resource protection, tourism, service skills, management, aesthetics, psychology, laws, safety and art, and for staff development providing on-the-job training for the management staff, inviting professors from prestigious universities to give academic lectures or special seminars, and selecting some staff to go abroad to study (ACMHSS, 2002). From 2017 to 2019, Mount Huangshan Administrative Committee conducted an extensive training programme for employees to improve their management capabilities, including lectures and seminars conducted by professors (IUCN Consultation, 2020).

The visitor centre and the Huangshan Geological Museum celebrate the scenic and cultural significance of the site. In both facilities there is a section dedicated to biodiversity. An education program was first launched at Zhaixi Primary School but was then expanded to all the primary and middle schools throughout the Huangshan district. A 6-episode TV program was aired on the CCTV-1, CCTV-9 and Anhui Satellite TV channels in early 2014 to reach the greater general public. A series of activities, including seminar, lectures, brochure, posters, are organized each year to celebrate the National Cultural Relic Day. (HSAC, 2016). Since 2017, Mount Huangshan has conducted a variety of scientific outreach work for college students, community residents, community schools and tourists, using the “entertainment + education” new popular science method, for example, using the opportunity of the China World Heritage Day to conduct lectures, exhibitions, video interviews, painting essays, and small tour guide competitions, amogst others (IUCN Consultation, 2020).

The mountain is increasingly targeted by tourists, and foreigners are being encouraged to visit it. Where in 1989 there were only 500,000 visitors, numbers rose between 1996 and 2001 from 867,000 to 1.34 million, 50-70,000 being foreigners. The trend continued in the new century when visitation reached 10,9million in the period 2006-2010, with an annual average of 2.18 million (HSAC, 2010). The figures were 14.652 million and 2.9 million, respectively for 2011-2015 (HSAC, 2016). The visitation rose to 3.3million in 2016. Many measures have been taken to cope with the impact of increased visitation. For example, a rotation system has been adopted as early as 1987 when scenic sites in Mount Huangshan selected sites to be closed down for a period of time to recover (HSCG, 2006). Hotels in Mount Huangshan would be gradually moved outside and overnight stay is discouraged. New sites in and around areas have been developed to divert the pressure. Visitors are subject to limited sight-seeing packages in peak season (IUCN Consultation, 2017). There is an educational centre, museum and art centre, a 70 km network of rock stairways and footpaths many of them stone paved, to 400 marked scenic spots (UNEP-WCMC, 2011).

Since 1980, the scenic resources of the property have been jointly assessed by the provincial Bureau of Urban and Rural Construction and Environmental Protection, the Huangshan Administrative Committee in Charge of Sites of Scenic and Historic Interest and Qinghua and Sun Yat-Sen Universities, to provide a scientific basis for its conservation. An Environmental Monitoring Station has been set up and automatic monitoring by remote sensing is being installed (WCMC, 2011). In 2017, the Mount Huangshan World Cultural and Natural Heritage Monitoring Center was established with the Mount Huangshan World Heritage Monitoring Information System, and a long-term monitoring mechanism was gradually established based on this (IUCN Consultation, 2020).

The site has a strong legacy in research. specifically in the mountain’s water resources, air quality, state of sewerage, pine nematode control, and general environmental management (WCMC, 2011). Prominent scientists from research institutions and universities have been appointed as Chief Scientists to guide the HSSA research staff. Biodiversity research is carried out, including a base-line biodiversity survey and a conservation zone of Tibetan macaques has been established (ACMHSS, 2002). Extensive research on interactions between tourists and Tibetan macaques has been carried out (McCarthy, 2009; Ruesto, 2010; Yong, 2013). A GEF project (2014-2018) was also completed to promote biodiversity and sustainable use in the Huangshan Mountain region (IUCN Consultation, 2017). The Huangshan Pine Germplasm Resources Conservation Research Project (2019-2021) in Mount Huangshan Scenic Site is now underway. The project mainly selects and collects excellent Huangshan pine seeds at different altitude gradients with the overall aim of conserving the pine forests through developing a rapid propagation technique for the species (IUCN Consultation, 2020).