Abstract:

The international conservation organization IUCN has given international guidances on categorisation of protected areas for more than 20 years. Considerable achievements and experiences have been gained for the resources conesrvation and their wise-use around the world. So far as China is concerned, efforts in those aspects are just being started or almost on blank in other words. This paper disusses the follwing 2 parts. The first part consists of the background and the purposes of the categorisation of protected areas. Two category systems were recommended by IUCN CNPPA in 1978 and 1994, which were introduced, and examples applying the management categories were shown. On the basis mentioned above, the second part set a management category system of protected areas of China. It is hoped that they will contribute to the development of protected areas, especially to their management in China.

Key words: Protected area, Management category system, Management category, Management objectives, Categorisation