Groundbreaking is held on Monday for building a national rocky desert park in Liannan Yao autonomous county in Qingyuan, Guangdong province, which has karst landscape. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Guangdong's first national desert rock park started construction in Liannan Yao autonomous county in Qingyuan on July 1.

Covering an area of 1,457.9 hectares backed by an investment of 134 million yuan ($19.5 million), Wanshanchaowang Park will include areas for ecological conservation, education and display, sightseeing and service, according to plans by the Guangdong Forestry Administration.

The park serves as an exploration of comprehensive ecological forest development in the ecologically fragile area of northern Guangdong and will help with poverty alleviation in the region, said Chen Jian, director for the Guangdong Provincial Ecological Public Welfare Forest Management Office.

More desert rock parks are in the pipeline in cities of Qingyuan and Shaoguan in the province, he said.

A bird's eye view of the karst landscape in Liannan Yao autonomous county in Qingyuan, Guangdong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]