[Explanation] Opening the proposals of the two sessions by Xu Xudong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a researcher at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for ten years, most of them are inseparable from the word "water".
In his view, paying attention to water ecology and protecting the mother river of the Yangtze River is not only a job requirement, but also his duty and mission.
[Concurrent] Xu Xudong, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, researcher at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Water is so important. You live like human beings since ancient times, mainly around rivers, right? You have to be where there is water, right? We use water. If you want to be in the Yangtze River Basin, it comes directly and indirectly from the river. From the main stream to the tributaries to the lakes, even the groundwater, directly and indirectly from the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, all come from these major water systems, which are very important to our human life.
[Explanation] As early as 2015, Xu Xudong put forward a proposal to implement an overall ecological protection strategy for the Yangtze River system to stop cruel fishing and large-scale sand mining.
What makes him particularly distressed is that the number of finless porpoises, a mammal unique to the Yangtze River and an indicator species for the ecological health of the Yangtze River, has dropped sharply year after year.
Since then, Xu Xudong has repeatedly submitted proposals on attaching importance to the protection of Yangtze finless porpoises, either alone or jointly with members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Hubei.
Until 2021, the "National Key Protected Wildlife List" will upgrade 65 species of Yangtze finless porpoise and other animals from the second-level national protected wild animals to the national first-level protected wild animals, which makes Xu Xudong optimistic about the prospects for the protection of the Yangtze finless porpoise.
[Concurrent] Xu Xudong, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, researcher at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
When you evaluate the quality of a water body, you must have biological factors in it. If you say that the water is good, the fish, grass, and fish will fly to the shallow bottom. You can’t have a water body without grass and fish. You say this Ecology, no matter how clean the water is, the ecosystem is not sound, so I think whether our water environment is good or not, your evaluation must have biological factors.
[Explanation] In recent years, finless porpoises have frequently appeared in the Yangtze River section.
Xu Xudong believes that the frequent appearance of finless porpoises, on the one hand, is an important sign that the Yangtze River ecosystem has begun to recover, and on the other hand, it shows that the implementation of the "ten-year fishing ban" and the "Yangtze River Protection Law" in the Yangtze River has initially appeared.
[Concurrent] Xu Xudong, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, researcher at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Because the protection of the finless porpoise is not just to protect the finless porpoise itself, if you want to protect the finless porpoise, you have to restore the number of fish, the population of fish, right? Animals, restore water quality, restore those hydrological conditions, right? So in fact, with this as the starting point, its essence is to restore the Yangtze River ecosystem in an all-round way.
[Explanation] The 2022 National Two Sessions will be held soon, and Xu Xudong will focus on the management of cyanobacteria blooms and urban lakes.
Xu Xudong believes that the governance of the Yangtze River basin has a long way to go, and strengthening basic research can improve the effectiveness of water ecological governance.
"The water is clear and the shore is green, and the fish floats on the shallow bottom." This is Xu Xudong's expectation for the water system of the Yangtze River basin in ten years.
Xu Xudong said that he will do his best to continue to speak for "water".
[Concurrent] Xu Xudong, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, researcher at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
After 10 years of fishing ban, it is 10 years, which is equivalent to silver carp and bighead carp. After two to three breeding cycles, the fish population in the Yangtze River should have a relatively significant recovery, and some habitats should be protected and restored. It also protects some wetlands, and the aquatic plant vegetation should also be restored to a relatively large extent.
Reporter Zou Hao reports from Wuhan, Hubei
Responsible editor: [Fang Jialiang]