The area of mangrove ecological protection included in the "One Map"
can only increase but not decrease 18,800 hectares for 5 years of restoration
● In the past 20 years, the area of mangroves in my country has increased steadily, and the ecological conditions of mangroves have improved.
However, habitat degradation, severe fragmentation, and a small amount of man-made destruction all pose threats to the survival of mangroves
● The area of mangroves continues to decrease. There are problems such as weak protection awareness and inadequate supervision, as well as unclear control rules, unclear protection subjects, and unclear penalty rules.
● The Action Plan proposes to promote mangrove protection and restoration legislation, actively promote the formulation and revision of relevant laws and regulations for mangrove protection, and improve mangroves in the formulation of the Wetland Protection Law, the revision of the Marine Environmental Protection Law and the revision of relevant local regulations Protect and repair legal system
□ Our reporter Yan Jianrong
Mangroves are one of the most diverse ecosystems of a few species in the world today, and the amount of biological resources is very rich.
In the past 20 years, the area of mangroves in my country has increased steadily, and the ecological conditions of mangroves have improved.
However, habitat degradation, severe fragmentation and a small amount of man-made destruction all pose threats to the survival of mangroves.
Recently, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the State Forestry and Grassland Administration jointly issued the "Special Action Plan for Mangrove Protection and Restoration (2020-2025)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan").
According to the requirements of the "Action Plan", in addition to all existing mangroves are included in the ecological protection red line, the area of mangroves in my country can only be increased but not decreased.
According to Zhou Yuanbo, director of the Department of Ecological Restoration of the Ministry of Natural Resources, my country will strengthen the management of nature reserves, retreat the breeding ponds in existing nature reserves, and build a number of mangrove nature reserves.
Sun Xuedong, deputy director of the Bureau of Spatial Planning of the Ministry of Natural Resources, emphasized that, except for major national strategic projects, the occupation of mangrove land is prohibited. If it is necessary to occupy and cannot be avoided, it must be approved by the State Council.
Wu Zhimin, Director of the Wetland Management Department of the National Forestry and Grass Administration, and Yuan Jiming, Deputy Director of the Nature Reserve Management Department, revealed that the draft Wetland Protection Law that is being drafted includes special provisions for mangrove protection and restoration, which will provide legal protection for mangrove protection and restoration. .
Mangroves are rich in ecological functions
Vigorously promote protection and restoration
Mangrove plants are named mangroves because of their rich tannins when exposed to the air, they will oxidize to red.
Even more amazing is that mangroves can withstand the disasters caused by storm surges.
On August 23, 1958, Xiamen, Fujian, was hit by a strong typhoon that was rare in history. The typhoon that landed on the coast of Xiamen reached level 12, followed by a strong storm surge.
The storm surge swallowed almost the entire coastal area and caused casualties.
Unexpectedly, Jiaowei Township, Longhai County, not far from Xiamen, was slightly affected. Not only was the embankment in this area safe and sound, the loss of farmland and cottages was also minimal.
According to experts, the main reason why Jiaowei Township was able to escape the storm surge is that there are tall and dense mangroves growing on the beach in Jiaowei Township.
The expert said that during a storm surge, a 100-meter-wide mangrove forest can reduce the wave height by 66%, and when the forest belt is larger than 500 meters, it can even reduce the wave height by 100%.
Therefore, mangroves are also called coast guards.
In addition, mangroves have important ecological significance.
According to the expert, more than 3,000 species of fish have been found in mangrove ecosystems around the world, 75% of tropical fish are born here, and 80% of important aquatic fishes live here.
The special abundance per unit area of mangroves in China is 1766 times the average level of the ocean. At present, a total of 2,854 species of organisms have been recorded in mangrove wetlands in my country, of which 8 species are national first-class protected animals and 75 are national second-class protected animals.
Experts revealed that red tides have almost never occurred in sea areas where mangroves exist.
According to Zhou Yuanbo, since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, my country has vigorously promoted the protection and restoration of mangroves, and has become one of the few countries in the world with a net increase in the area of mangroves.
Wu Zhimin said that in the past 20 years, the area of mangroves in my country has increased steadily and the ecological conditions of mangroves have improved.
The area of mangrove forests in my country was about 50,000 hectares in the 1950s. In 2001, the area was 22,000 hectares. In 2019, the area was restored to 28,900 hectares.
In 2019, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the National Forestry and Grass Administration completed a special survey on the status quo and afforestation potential of mangroves in my country, and basically found out the distribution of suitable mangroves for restoration.
Yuan Jiming said that according to this survey, there are 52 nature reserves (excluding Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) where mangroves are distributed, including nature reserves, wetland parks, and special marine reserves.
Among these protected areas, mangroves cover an area of 15,944 hectares, accounting for more than 55% of the country’s mangroves.
In terms of protection level, there are 9,800 hectares of mangrove forests in national nature reserves, accounting for 34% of the national mangrove area; the mangroves in local nature reserves have 6,144 hectares, accounting for 21% of the national mangrove area.
The ecosystem is severely fragmented
The total area of mangroves is still small
It is understood that my country's mangrove forests are mainly distributed in Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and other places.
"These mangrove protected areas are distributed in the coastal areas or islands in the southeast, where the population is dense, the economy is developing rapidly, the conflicts between man and land in the process of urbanization and industrialization are intense, and the pressure on land development is extremely high." Yuan Jiming said, the main manifestation There is a strong demand for mangroves and suitable plots for aquaculture, port and terminal facility construction, and real estate development. These have brought great pressure on the protection and restoration of mangroves, and the mangrove ecosystem has also appeared more serious. Fragmentation.
A reporter from the Rule of Law Daily noted that in 2019, the Central Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspector of Hainan Province discovered such a problem.
In August last year, the Central Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspector publicly notified Chengmai County of Hainan Province of the wanton reclamation and destruction of mangroves.
According to the Central Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspection Team, from 1995 to 1996, Hainan Overseas Chinese Farm transferred 7,873 acres of land in Huachang Bay to Hainan Zhongda Tourism Company and other enterprises in the name of tourism land. From 2009 to 2011, it successively transferred it to Hainan. R & F Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as R & F Corporation) 7,852 mu.
Among the land owned by R&F, 4,641.61 acres belong to mangrove areas and sea areas such as tidal flats, fish ponds, and oceans, which are located within the scope of marine reserves.
Although the area of mangroves in my country is increasing, in Wu Zhimin's view, the total area is still small.
Wu Zhimin said that the world's mangrove area is about 15 million hectares, and my country's mangrove area only accounts for 0.2% of the world.
At the same time, the habitat of mangroves has also been degraded.
According to Wu Zhimin, habitat degradation is mainly manifested in mangrove community degradation, habitat fragmentation, degradation of habitat quality and degradation of ecological functions.
At present, the low Avicennia marina and Tung Blossom forest occupy the main part of the Chinese mangroves.
50% of the 37 species of mangrove plants in my country are in varying degrees of rare and endangered status, and the number of wild individuals of Hainan Sonneratia and Sonneratia ovata is no more than 100.
At the same time, human disturbance has led to dwarfing, thinning of mangroves and decline in biodiversity, especially the decline in the habitat density of burrowing animals and crabs, which reduces the supply of soil oxygen and is not conducive to the growth of mangrove plants.
Wu Zhimin pointed out that at present, my country's mangrove forests are still facing threats such as pollution, overfishing and collection, and invasion of alien organisms.
In addition, some mangrove distribution areas with important ecological locations have not been included in the scope of nature reserves, and the overall protection and coordination mechanism of mangroves is not sound; the protection and restoration of mangroves is not sufficiently connected with local related planning.
Clarify mangrove forest management and control plan
All in the ecological protection red line
In response to these problems in the protection of mangroves, Sun Xuedong believes that the area of mangroves continues to decrease. There are problems such as weak protection awareness and inadequate supervision, as well as unclear control rules, unclear protection subjects, and unclear penalty rules.
In order to solve these problems, the Ministry of Natural Resources has comprehensively and systematically strengthened the overall protection and strict control of mangrove forests in combination with the evaluation and adjustment of the ecological protection red line, the integration and optimization of natural reserves, and the preparation of land and space planning.
According to Sun Xuedong, the Ministry of Natural Resources has clarified the management and control plan of mangroves, "mangroves are classified as core protection areas and general control areas of nature reserves according to the function of the ecosystem, and all are classified as ecological protection red lines for strict management."
Sun Xuedong said that according to the "Guidelines for the Evaluation of Resource and Environment Carrying Capacity and the Suitability of Land and Space Development" issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources, all 37 types of mangroves, including sea paint, sea lotus, and Hainan sea mulberry, have been assessed as areas of vital importance for biodiversity maintenance. According to the latest results of the “Three Adjustments” of the country, the current mangrove forests that have reached the minimum area of the above figure will be included in the ecological protection red line.
At the same time, it is required that the areas suitable for restoration into mangroves should be included in the ecological protection red line after scientific demonstration, so as to realize that all areas should be delineated and protected.
The "Action Plan" proposes that mangrove-related nature reserves and mangroves and mangroves suitable for restoration areas outside the nature reserves shall be all included in the red line of ecological protection and be strictly protected.
Sun Xuedong revealed that the Ministry of Natural Resources is taking the lead in formulating the "Ecological Protection Red Line Management Measures" to further refine the ecological protection red line management and control rules, which clearly stated that mangroves within the ecological protection red line and core protected areas of nature reserves are prohibited in principle. Man-made activities; mangroves within the red line of ecological protection and outside the core protected areas of nature reserves, only limited man-made activities that do not cause damage to the ecological functions of mangroves are allowed, such as moderate understory science experience, eco-tourism, and ecological breeding , Scientific research observation, specimen collection and other activities approved by law.
Major national strategic projects that really need to be occupied and cannot be avoided shall be submitted to the State Council for approval.
He emphasized that mangroves, as an important part of the ecological protection red line, are included in the "one map" of the national land and space plan for strict supervision.
The provincial people's government is required to formulate specific supervision measures to strengthen the supervision of permitted limited human activities involving mangroves within the ecological protection red line.
Natural resources departments at all levels are required to conduct regular inspections and law enforcement in conjunction with relevant departments based on the division of responsibilities.
For problems discovered, they should be notified to the people's government at the corresponding level in a timely manner, and the relevant departments will deal with them in accordance with their duties and laws.
The National Natural Resources Inspection Agency will conduct inspections in conjunction with relevant departments to ensure that the area of mangroves will not decrease, their functions will not decrease, and their nature will not change.
The area of mangroves is only increasing
Ten thousand hectares of construction and restoration
According to the requirements of the Action Plan, my country will implement comprehensive protection of existing mangrove forests in Zhejiang Province, Fujian Province, Guangdong Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Hainan Province.
In these places, the developmental and productive construction activities such as breeding ponds in nature reserves will be gradually completed, and the ecological functions of mangrove nature reserves will be restored.
At the same time, implement mangrove ecological restoration, build mangroves in areas suitable for restoration, implement tending and upgrading in degraded areas, expand the area of mangroves, and improve the quality and function of mangrove ecosystems.
According to the requirements of the Action Plan, the area of mangrove forests in my country can only increase but not decrease.
Among them, the "Action Plan" clearly stated that in the optimization and adjustment of mangrove national and provincial nature reserves, the breeding pond area should not be transferred out of the protection area.
In addition, illegal breeding ponds in mangrove natural reserves shall be cleared and retired in accordance with the law; existing legal breeding ponds shall not be renewed after expiration; for unexpired encouragement to withdraw early, reasonable compensation shall be given.
After the retreat, the original breeding pond area should be repaired and reconstructed as necessary to provide conditions for the establishment of mangrove forests.
Zhou Yuanbo said that the Action Plan takes the period from 2020 to 2025 as the implementation cycle and clarifies the expected work goal, that is, to build and restore 18,800 hectares of mangroves by 2025, including 9,050 hectares of mangroves and 9,750 hectares of existing mangroves. .
"To carry out the overall protection and systematic restoration of mangroves, we must oppose so-called ecological projects that deviate from objective conditions, violate natural laws, and even destroy the ecology." Zhou Yuanbo pointed out that the state will vigorously provide for mangrove protection projects that meet the requirements of the Action Plan. financial support.
Zhou Yuanbo revealed that the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Finance will use all of the 600 million yuan in the "Blue Bay" remediation project this year to support the five southern provinces to carry out projects focusing on mangrove protection and restoration.
In addition, the Ministry of Natural Resources will reward local governments with new construction land plan targets based on 40% of the annual qualified mangrove afforestation area.
Proposed special protection clause
Protection and restoration have legal support
When talking about the problems in the protection of mangroves, Wu Zhimin specifically mentioned that as an important part of the wetland ecosystem, national laws have not made specific provisions for mangrove protection.
The existing mangrove nature reserves have problems such as unsound institutions and lack of professionals, and the protection efficiency is not high; the mangrove forests outside the nature reserves have problems such as unclear management subjects and unclear responsibilities.
In response to the lack of mangrove protection laws, the Action Plan proposes to promote mangrove protection and restoration legislation, actively promote the formulation and revision of relevant laws and regulations for mangrove protection, and in the formulation of the Wetland Protection Law, the revision of the Marine Environmental Protection Law and relevant local regulations The legal system for mangrove protection and restoration is being improved during the revision.
In terms of advancing wetland legislation, Wu Zhimin said that since 2018, the National Forestry and Grass Administration has cooperated with the National People’s Congress Environmental Resources and Resources Commission to steadily advance the legislation process of the Wetland Protection Law. After many discussions and consultations, the draft of the Wetland Protection Law has set up mangrove protection and restoration. The special clauses of this year will provide legal support for mangrove protection and restoration.
Yuan Jiming revealed that many protected areas still have problems with incomplete management institutions, weak supervision and invasion of alien species.
The situation of inadequate planning and inadequacy is still common.
In the ongoing integration and optimization of natural reserves, the National Forestry and Grass Administration will strictly control the transfer of plots suitable for mangrove growth from the protected areas.
At the same time, establish a technical system for dynamic monitoring of mangrove resources, carry out special law enforcement and inspection actions, and strengthen the supervision of mangrove protected areas.
Aiming at the degradation of Spartina alterniflora and other exotic species and the degradation of mangrove ecosystems, targeted management will be carried out during the planning and implementation of major ecological restoration projects in protected areas.
Cartography/Gao Yue