Giant Panda National Park (Chinese: 大熊猫国家公园) is a national park in China. It is a large protected area located in the Sichuan, Gansu, and Shaanxi provinces. Created in 2020, the park includes 67 nature reserves and covers an area of 27,134 km² (10,476 sq mi). This makes it more than three times the size of Yellowstone National Park.

The main purpose of the park is to protect China's giant panda population. The area within the park is home to 1,864 giant pandas, which represents 80% of the species' population in China. This number accounts for most of the giant panda population worldwide. The park also includes an estimated 100 to 350 individuals of the Qinling panda subspecies.

Overview

China announced plans for the national park in 2017. In March 2018, the Bank of China committed CN¥10 billion (US$1.1 billion) through a five-year funding plan.

Before these plans, human activity, natural disasters, and climate change had broken giant panda habitats into pieces. This split panda populations into about 30 separate groups across mountain ranges in the western provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu. The national park connects these groups by joining 67 natural reserves and protected areas into one area.

The main goal of the park is to help giant pandas survive long-term by increasing genetic diversity. By bringing together small, isolated panda groups—some with fewer than 10 pandas—the park reduces the risk of inbreeding or mating with pandas that share similar genes. It allows pandas to move freely across provincial borders, giving them more choices for mates and improving the species’ genetic variety.

Studies suggest that the park’s fragmented layout, which includes many highways, may harm panda health. Research found that soil samples near a major highway cutting through panda habitat showed high levels of harmful metals, including copper, zinc, manganese, lead, chromium, nickel, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic. The study investigated whether highways are a major source of metal pollution in panda areas.