The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) has
warned local nature reserves of their responsibility for
environmental protection during the tourist peak over the week-long
May Day holiday.
The West Lake in Zhejiang
Province
The development of tourism depended on a sound environment, but
the growing tourist volumes threatened the environment of nature
reserves, said Wu Xiaoqing, vice minister of the SEPA.
China lacked a legal framework for environmental protection in
tourism zones, Wu said.
He urged local environmental departments to inspect and
supervise the areas, and all activities that were destructive
should be immediately stopped and corrected and the perpetrators
prosecuted according to the law.
According to a SEPA report, 82 of the country's 226 national
nature reserves, or 36.3 percent, reported illegal activities that
damaged the environment in 2005.
(Xinhua News Agency May 1, 2007)
