Beijing plans to establish another 12 nature reserve parks in its outskirts by the year of 2005, said an official with the Beijing Municipal Forestry Administration.

The official said that the capital city established five new nature reserve parks in Wild Dark Lake, Wuling Mountain, Yunmeng Mountain and two other suburban areas, which cover 22,000 hectaresof land.

So far, Beijing has a total of 18 nature reserve parks whose area accounts for over five percent of the city's total area. By year of 2005 the number of nature reserve parks of the city will reach 30.

Beijing stipulates that tree-logging and tourism are forbidden in the nature reserve parks for protection of the ecological environment.

Beijing began to set up its first group of two nature reserve parks in 1985 and the city's largest nature reserve park is the 18,000-hectare Lamagou Nature Reserve Park which is a home to wild leopards and other 56 kinds of wild animals.

(Eastday 01/29/01)