Hubei Shennongjia

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Hubei Shennongjia: A Biodiverse Haven in Central China

Hubei Shennongjia, located in the northwest region of Hubei Province, is a significant World Heritage Site that stands out due to its rich biodiversity and historical significance in botanical research. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016, it spans across two main components: Shennongding/Badong to the west and Laojunshan to the east.

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UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site

Located in Hubei Province, in central-eastern China, the site consists of two components: Shennongding/Badong to the west and Laojunshan to the east. It protects the largest primary forests remaining in Central China and provides habitat for many rare animal species, such as the Chinese Giant Salamander, the Golden or Sichuan Snub-nosed Monkey, the Clouded Leopard, Common Leopard and the Asian Black Bear. Hubei Shennongjia is one of three centres of biodiversity in China. The site features prominently in the history of botanical research and was the object of international plant collecting expeditions in the 19th and 20th centuries. 

UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site

Criterion (ix): Hubei Shennongjia protects the largest primary forests in Central China and is one of three centres of endemic plant species in China. The property includes 11 types of vegetation and an intact altitudinal vegetation spectrum across six gradients including evergreen broad-leaved forest, mixed evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved forest, deciduous broad-leaved forest, mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forest, coniferous forest, and bush/meadow. With 874 species of deciduous woody plants, belonging to 260 genera, the tree species and genus richness of the site is unparalleled for a deciduous broadleaf forest type worldwide and within the Northern Hemisphere’s evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved mixed forests, Hubei Shennongjia contains the most complete altitudinal natural belts in the world. Hubei Shennongjia is situated in the Daba Mountains Evergreen Forests ecoregion and also within a priority ecoregion, the Southwest China Temperate Forest both of which are not yet represented on the World Heritage List. It also protects the Shennongjia regional centre of plant diversity which has been identified as a gap on the World Heritage List. In association with its floral diversity the property protects critical ecosystems for numerous rare and endangered animal species.

Criterion (x): Hubei Shennongjia’s unique terrain and climate has been relatively little affected by glaciation and thus creates a haven for numerous rare, endangered and endemic species, as well as many of the world’s deciduous woody species. The property exhibits high levels of species richness, especially among vascular plants, and remarkably contains more than 63% of the temperate genera found across all of China, a megabiodiverse country with the world’s greatest diversity of temperate plant genera. The property includes 12.9% of the country’s vascular plant species. The mountainous terrain also contains critical habitat for a range of flagship animal species. 1,550 Golden or Sichuan Snub nosed Monkeys are recorded in the property. The Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys in Shennongjia are the most endangered of the 3 sub-species in China and are entirely restricted to the property. Other important species include Clouded Leopard, Common Leopard, Asian Golden Cat, Dhole, Asian Black Bear, Indian Civet, Musk Deer, Chinese Goral, Chinese Serow, Golden Eagle, Reeve’s Pheasant and the world’s largest amphibian the Chinese Giant Salamander. The property has extremely rich biodiversity, contains a large number of type species, and hosts numerous rare species which have been introduced into horticulture worldwide. Internationally, Shennongjia holds a special place for the study of plant systematics and horticultural science.

Encyclopedia Record: Shennongjia

Shennongjia Forestry District is a county-level administrative unit in northwestern Hubei province, People's Republic of China, directly subordinated to the provincial government. It occupies 3,253 square kilometres (1,256 sq mi) in western Hubei, and, as of 2007 had the resident population estimated at 74,000. On July 17, 2016, Hubei Shennongjia was listed as a World Heritage Site, the 50th World Heritage Site in China, because of its exceptional floral and faunal biodiversity and its protection of many rare, endangered, and endemic species.

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IUCN World Heritage Outlook

The 2025 Conservation Outlook on Hubei Shennongjia reports the following assessment:

Source: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) · View assessment