The increasing presence of service facilities once drove away wild animals and damaged the natural beauty of Zhangjiajie, a state forest park in central China's Hunan Province.

However, the situation has turned for the better since the local government took various measures to restore the once-polluted scenic reserve in 2001.

Home to the Wulingyuan Scenic Area, a world heritage listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1992, Zhangjiajie is famous for its spectacular mountains and natural scenery, with forest covering 97. 7 percent of its scenic spots. Approved by the State Council, it became China's first state forest park in 1982.

The shining title of "world heritage" attracted millions of tourists from home and abroad, leading to the booming of tourism- related economy in the area. However, the sharp increase of hotels, restaurants and shops around the forest park brought pollution along with the economic profit to the region.

A quiet idyllic park was suddenly changed into a noisy and dirty place. While local people were happy to see their tourism income rocketing, they did not realize that their priceless world heritage was being polluted rapidly.

The floor space of man-built facilities once reached 360,000 square meters in Zhangjiajie, with Luoguta, one of its famous scenic spots becoming a "city of hotels" and Jinbianxi (Golden Whip Brook), reputed to be the "most beautiful valley in the world ," was forced to take up 1,500 tons of waste water each day.

In September 1998, UNESCO officials visited Wulingyuan for their five-year heritage supervision. They severely criticized the urbanization process in the area and all sorts of pollution activities ruining the local natural environment.

The Chinese government and public paid high attention to the UNESCO critical report on Wulingyuan. On Jan. 1, 2001, a regulation on the protection of Wulingyuan as a world heritage was enacted, becoming China's first regional regulations protecting a world natural heritage.

The massive campaign to restore the natural beauty of Zhangjiajie, starting from October 2001, included removal of buildings, protection of ecological forest and control of pollution sources.

Man-built facilities with floor space of 191,000 square meters, including 124 hotels and restaurants were dismantled, and 546 households in Zhangjiajie had moved out from major scenic spots.

"No one is now allowed to chop down trees or put up new buildings within the scenic area," a local official said.

Currently the polluted air emission is being strictly controlled and the water quality in Jinbianxi has been improved greatly, according to the local environmental protection department.

Villager Peng Changming and his family have moved out of the scenic zone. "I really don't want to leave," he said, adding "but I support government's work since it is the obligation of everybody to protect Zhangjiajie."

(Xinhua News Agency June 3, 2004)