Professor Liu Chao, Dean of the Law School of Huaqiao university, published a paper titled “Jurisprudence and Mechanisms of Protected Areas Legislation for Safeguarding National Ecological Security” in China Population, Resources and Environment (2024, Issue 8). This paper is an interim research finding of Liu’s project titled “Research on Innovative Environmental Judicial Mechanisms under the ‘Dual Carbon’ Goals”, supported by the key program of National Social Science Fund of China (No: 23AFX021).

The article addresses the significant reform task outlined in the “Guiding Opinions on Establishing a System of Natural Reserves with National Parks as the Main Body” issued by the General Office of the Central Committee of the CPC and the General Office of the State Council. These guidelines position natural protected areas as “of primary importance in safeguarding national ecological security” and call for the accelerated development of related laws, regulations, and institutional frameworks as a safeguard measure. Beginning with an analysis of this top-level design, the paper argues that safeguarding national ecological security should be a primary objective of protected area legislation. The legislative framework aims to align with the overall national security concept and fulfill the constitutional goal of "ecological civilization." The study emphasizes that a regulatory system focused on ecological security must clearly define the legal structure of "national ecological security" and address its legislative requirements from three dimensions: subject, time, and space.

The study indicates that under the goal of national ecological security, the legislation for protected areas should center on the design of the legal system in the following three dimensions:

1. Subject Dimension: The legislation should emphasize the positioning of the “community of life” in its objectives, adopt the inherent laws of natural ecosystems as the logical thread in its structure, and balance ecological laws with behavioral controls in its legal logic.

2. Time Dimension: The legal mechanisms should include establishing a dynamic adjustment system for protected areas and formulating seasonal management regulations.

3.Space Dimension: Innovations in legal systems should develop a tiered management framework centered around natural ecological spaces, establish zoning management systems for large-scale ecological areas, and create collaborative management systems for protected areas across administrative regions.

The theoretical framework of this research is grounded in the “overall national security concept”, with “national ecological security” as the fundamental concept and theoretical basis for environmental law studies, it lays asolid theoretical ground work for discussions on China’s protected area legislation.

(Editor: Wei Linying)