(East-West Question) Zhang Peidong: Why is it said that "eating" carbon in seagrass beds can explore new ways for global "carbon neutrality"?
China News Agency, Qingdao, February 11 Question: Why is it said that "eating" carbon in seagrass beds can explore new ways for global "carbon neutrality"?
——Interview with Zhang Peidong, a member of the Seagrass Species Expert Group of the IUCN Species Survival Committee and a Ph.D. from Ocean University of China
China News Agency reporter Hu Yaojie
At present, in the context of the global energy transition and countries striving for carbon peaks and carbon neutrality, every little-known carbon reduction pathway has attracted much attention, including seagrass "eat" carbon.
As three typical offshore marine ecosystems, seagrass beds are an important global carbon pool, with strong "carbon capture" and "carbon sequestration" capabilities.
As a little-known ecosystem "carbon neutral" path, does China's protection and restoration of seagrass bed ecosystems provide another option for the world to "carbon neutralize"?
How can China promote mutual learning between East and West in the field of seagrass bed ecosystem restoration?
Zhang Peidong, a member of the Seagrass Species Expert Group of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Species Survival Committee, a member of the Fishery Resources Sub-Technical Committee of the National Aquatic Standardization Technical Committee, and a Ph.D. from Ocean University of China, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "East-West Question" to interpret this.
The following is a summary of the interview transcript:
China News Service reporter: Seagrass beds, mangroves and coral reefs are called three typical offshore marine ecosystems, and their carbon storage efficiency is 90 times higher than that of forests. But when it comes to seagrass beds, everyone is relatively unfamiliar. Why can it "eat" carbon?
Zhang Peidong:
Seagrass is a higher plant that has evolved from terrestrial plants to adapt to the marine environment. It is the only type of angiosperm on earth that can completely live in seawater. The seagrass beds constructed are also known as "undersea grassland" and "undersea forest". .
Seagrass beds are an important global carbon pool with strong carbon capture and carbon sequestration capabilities. Low decomposition rates and relative stability enable them to sequester carbon for thousands of years.
In recent decades, the decline of seagrass beds worldwide has become more severe, and more than one-third of the world's seagrass beds have been completely degraded.
The existing seagrass beds in the world cover an area of about 170,000 square kilometers, which can absorb more than 100 million tons of carbon dioxide a year, which is equivalent to the annual carbon emission of about 35 million cars.
The fishery resources such as eelgrass seagrass bed fish and other fishes constructed in Zhaoyuan, Shandong are becoming more and more abundant.
Photo by Li Wentao
China News Service: China proposes to strive to achieve "carbon peak" by 2030 and "carbon neutrality" by 2060. What is the significance and role of protecting and restoring seagrass beds for China to achieve these two goals?
Zhang Peidong:
As the largest developing country in the world, China firmly follows the path of green and low-carbon energy development.
"Carbon peaking" and "carbon neutrality" have become China's major strategic decisions.
I believe that green and low-carbon development provides opportunities and motivation for the transformation and upgrading of China's economic and social development. While reducing carbon through technological upgrading and product substitution, reducing carbon through ecosystems can provide another way to "carbon neutrality". A green and safe solution.
It is estimated that repairing and maintaining seagrass beds with an area of 10,000 mu is equivalent to neutralizing the carbon emissions of more than 200,000 vehicles in one year.
Protecting and restoring seagrass beds can not only improve coastal productivity, conserve biodiversity, protect coasts from erosion, and buffer the effects of pollution and extreme climate events, but also play an important role in stabilizing and enhancing the carbon sink capacity of typical marine ecosystems.
Professor Zhang Peidong's team carried out research on the carbon sink potential of eelgrass seagrass beds in Caofeidian, Tangshan.
Photo by Zhang Peidong
China News Service reporter: At present, how does China manage to restore and protect seagrass beds, and what innovative measures have been taken in the restoration process?
Zhang Peidong:
There are 22 species of seagrass in China's coastal waters, accounting for about 30% of the world's seagrass species.
China is one of the countries with the most severe degradation trend of Shanghai grass beds in the world.
With the continuous improvement of the country's awareness of the ecological functions of seagrass beds, government management departments have paid more and more attention to the protection and restoration of seagrass beds.
In 2007, Hainan Province established China's first seagrass type special protection zone; in 2017, Shandong Province took the lead in carrying out seagrass multiplication projects in the country, accumulatively growing nearly 4 million units of eelgrass in Xiaoyao Lake, Swan Lake in Weihai and the coastal waters of Laizhou. The seagrass bed covers an area of more than 100 hectares; in 2019, China launched the first large-scale seagrass bed restoration ecological project in Caofeidian, Tangshan, restoring and maintaining 300 hectares of seagrass beds.
At present, China has achieved a series of achievements in the field of seagrass bed restoration, which is at the leading level in the world. It has broken through the technical bottleneck of low seagrass bed restoration efficiency and poor effect, and developed efficient seagrass mechanically assisted propagation devices and equipment, forming a relatively complete seagrass bed. The ecological restoration technology chain has increased the eelgrass seed retention rate by more than 10 times and the seedling establishment rate by more than 5 times, and proposed a restoration ecological engineering technical plan.
The trend of seagrass bed degradation has been initially curbed, and marine organisms such as Songjiang perch and sea cucumber that have not been seen for many years have reappeared in seagrass beds in coastal waters of China.
Professor Zhang Peidong's team carried out ecological restoration of eelgrass plant transplantation in Rongcheng Swan Lake.
Photo by Zhang Peidong
China News Service: What are the similarities and differences between Western countries' concepts and methods and China's in protecting and restoring seagrass beds? How is China promoting mutual learning between East and West in the field of seagrass bed ecosystem restoration?
Zhang Peidong:
At present, the international community attaches great importance to the protection and systematic research of seagrass beds. Some developed countries have successively implemented global or regional research programs, such as the Seagrass Net program in the United States and the Seagrass Watch program in Australia.
China and Western developed countries have the same identification and protection concepts for the ecological functions of seagrass beds, but differ in their governance concepts and methods.
Western developed countries pay more attention to the excavation of the ecological functions of seagrass beds and the protection of resources, and the restoration method usually wins by quantity.
Since China is one of the countries with the most serious seagrass bed degradation trend, China pays more attention to the restoration of seagrass beds, and pays more attention to the effect in technology, and the scale of restoration is increasing very fast.
China's advantage in this field is mainly in the establishment of a relatively complete technical chain, which has formed relatively mature technologies in aspects such as donor collection, seed propagation and artificial cultivation, seed sowing and plant transplantation, and maintenance and management.
At present, China is actively conducting exchanges, visits and academic discussions with the United States, Japan and other countries, and at the same time does not shy away from sharing experience and technology with countries and regions in need.
Such as the introduction of new environmentally friendly materials, seed sowing technology and integrated development concepts, etc., have contributed Chinese experience to the management and protection of global seagrass beds.
In my opinion, the ocean does not belong to one country, but to the whole world. It is far from enough and impossible for one or several countries to attach importance to marine ecological protection and restoration. Only through active exchanges and cooperation among countries can we truly realize the globalization of the ocean. "Carbon Neutral".
Professor Zhang Peidong's team carried out ecological restoration of eelgrass substrate wrapping and seeding in Rongcheng Swan Lake.
Photo by Zhang Peidong
China News Service reporter: In the future, what are the directions and prospects for China to manage and restore seagrass beds and use seagrass beds to "eat" carbon and reduce carbon?
Zhang Peidong:
Through more than ten years of scientific research and practice, my research team alone has repaired and maintained more than 20,000 mu of seagrass beds, which is equivalent to neutralizing the exhaust emissions of more than 400,000 cars in one year.
"Eating" carbon by seagrass beds is increasingly known and accepted, and has become an important ecological solution to "carbon neutrality".
At the same time, the seagrass bed itself is a powerful ecosystem, and the restoration and protection of the seagrass bed cannot be regarded as an ecological project.
Different from the western developed countries that only focus on the excavation of the ecological functions of seagrass beds and the protection of resources, at present, China's "different approach" is reflected in not only focusing on protection and restoration, but also on the integrated development of ecological restoration of seagrass beds, especially opening up the "final stage" of ecological restoration. one kilometer".
I think it is necessary to organically combine the ecological restoration of seagrass beds with carbon trading for carbon sequestration and increase sequestration, green ecological pastures such as sea cucumbers, high-value ecological products of extracts, and unique fishing and tourism culture to promote seagrass. The ecological benefits, economic benefits and social benefits of bed ecological restoration are simultaneously improved to achieve harmonious development between man and nature.
Opening up the "last mile" of seagrass bed restoration can effectively help rural revitalization in China.
In the future, the protection and restoration of seagrass beds will not only be "lucid waters and lush mountains", but also "gold and silver mountains".
(Finish)
Interviewee Profile:
Zhang Peidong, Ph.D., professor and doctoral supervisor of Ocean University of China, member of the Seagrass Species Expert Group of the Species Survival Committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), member of the Fishery Resources Sub-Technical Committee of the National Aquatic Standardization Technical Committee, director of the China Wild Plant Protection Association, and member of the China Wild Plant Conservation Association. Executive director of the Agricultural Branch of the Plant Protection Association, member of the Expert Advisory Committee on the Construction of Marine Ranch of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
The research team has published more than 50 papers related to seagrass beds in academic journals at home and abroad, and obtained more than 10 patents. "Mother River Award" Green Project Award and other awards.