China News Service, Beijing, January 10 (Reporter Chen Su) Wu Zhimin, director of the Wetland Management Department of China's State Forestry and Grassland Administration, said on the 10th that the ecological status of China's wetlands continues to improve.
Together with forests and oceans, wetlands are known as the three major ecosystems of the earth. They have various ecological functions such as water conservation, water purification, climate regulation, and biodiversity maintenance. They are known as the "kidney of the earth".
At the press conference held by the State Forestry and Grassland Administration ("National Forestry and Grassland Administration") on the same day, Wu Zhimin introduced the situation of wetland protection in China.
He said that this year marks the 30th anniversary of China's accession to the Convention on Wetlands.
Over the past 30 years, the Chinese government has led all sectors of society to vigorously promote wetland protection and restoration, and the ecological status of wetlands has continued to improve.
With 4% of the world's wetlands, it meets the needs of one-fifth of the world's population for wetland production, living, ecology and culture, and has made important contributions to the protection and rational use of global wetlands.
Wu Zhimin said that China's legal system on wetland protection is becoming more and more complete. The "Wetland Protection Law" will be promulgated in 2021, and the "Wetland Protection and Restoration System Plan" and implementation plan have been formulated at the national and provincial levels, and the top-level design of wetland protection management has been established. "Four beams and eight columns".
China has designated 64 wetlands of international importance, established 602 wetland nature reserves, more than 1,600 wetland parks and numerous wetland protection communities, with a wetland protection rate of 52.65%.
In addition, China is the first country in the world to complete three national wetland resource surveys. Field stations for wetland survey and monitoring, real-time monitoring and information management platforms have been established in various regions, and they have been gradually incorporated into the national forest and grass perception system to achieve integration of monitoring and supervision through high-tech. .
According to statistics, since 2003, the central government has invested a total of 19.8 billion yuan, implemented more than 4,100 engineering projects, and led local governments to jointly carry out wetland ecological protection and restoration.
"As a member of the Standing Committee of the Convention on Wetlands and the chairman of the Science and Technology Committee, China has deeply participated in the convention's affairs and rule-making, carried out extensive international cooperation and exchanges, and contributed Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to global ecological governance," said Wu Zhimin.
In December 2021, China's Wetland Protection Law was officially promulgated and will come into force on June 1, 2022.
Wu Zhimin said that the formulation of the "Wetland Protection Law" is the fundamental guarantee for the establishment of a wetland protection and restoration system.
In the next step, the State Forestry and Grassland Administration will organize and carry out law popularization training in an all-round way, enhance the awareness of wetland protection in the whole society, improve the ability of wetland workers at all levels to perform their duties, and issue supporting regulations and institutional policies in a timely manner to guide local formulation and revision of provincial wetlands. Conservation regulations, mobilize the strength of the whole society, take multiple measures to protect and restore wetlands, and promote the high-quality development of China's wetland undertakings.
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