Zanhuang County has maintained a sound natural ecological environment, with lush and magnificent mountains, clear and winding streams, pristine natural scenery, and numerous rare species. It is rich in animal and plant resources, with abundant rainfall, a pleasant climate, and a forest coverage rate of 49.1%. In its deep mountainous areas, the forest coverage rate exceeds 90%. Zanhuang County has successively been recognized as one of the sixth batch of national practice and innovation bases for the concept that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,” a National Ecological Protection and Construction Demonstration Area, a National Key Ecological Function Zone, one of China’s Top 100 Counties for Greening, and one of the first national forestry science and technology demonstration counties.
The forest coverage rate of Taihang Mountain Zhangshiyan exceeds 98%. The foothills and cliff-top platforms are covered with trees, shrubs, vines, and grasses. There are 283 plant species belonging to 181 genera and 74 families, making it one of the best-preserved and most species-rich “natural botanical gardens” in North China. It is known as “one of the greenest places in the Taihang Mountains.”
The park is rich in plant species. Most of the vegetation consists of natural secondary forests and wild plants, while planted forests are found at valley bottoms, near villages, and on terraces. The park mainly features warm-temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest as its zonal vegetation, including coniferous forests, deciduous broad-leaved forests, deciduous broad-leaved shrublands, and shrub-grass communities. The vertical vegetation zones are clearly developed, with trees, shrubs, and meadows on the mountain tops, and trees dominating the middle and lower slopes. Common vegetation types include: on shady slopes, shrub belts dominated by wild azalea in the upper parts, secondary Liaodong oak forests in the middle parts, mixed elm-oak deciduous forests in the lower parts, and mixed tree-shrub communities of Chinese pine, oak, Manchurian walnut, hornbeam, and redbud at the lowest parts; on sunny slopes, deciduous broad-leaved forests dominated by oak in the upper parts, and deciduous tree-shrub forests dominated by cork oak and smoke tree in the middle and lower parts. These vegetation communities are representative of typical vegetation in the Taihang Mountains.
The park has a sound ecological environment and diverse vegetation types. Together with strict hunting bans and fishing prohibition regulations, these conditions provide a favorable habitat for the reproduction and survival of wild animals. According to surveys, excluding insects, there are 149 wild animal species belonging to 52 families, including 2 species under national first-class protection, 13 species under national second-class protection, and 32 species under provincial key protection.