NGO and private company invited to help with protection of Sanjiangyuan area's wilderness

China's first national park has invited an NGO and company to take part in the pilot protection process, a new move to promote their protection work.

Sanjiangyuan National Park in Qinghai province, home to the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers, has signed cooperation deals with the World Wildlife Fund and Guangzhou Automobile Group to explore new ways to protect the environment.

The two will help with such activities as research on the park, resources surveys, and environmental monitoring and training, which would help educate people about protecting wild areas.

Li Xiaonan, head of the management commission of China's first national park, said the public participation will help the national park grow into a model of "effective environmental protection and harmony between nature and humanity".

Fang Yan, a senior official at the National Development and Reform Commission, said the other eight provinces involved in the national park pilot project also are encouraged to invite other sectors of society to participate.