Xi Jinping: It is necessary to build a global consensus on the protection of wetlands, cherish the reverence for nature, reduce the interference and damage of human activities, guard the ecological security boundaries of wetlands, and leave beautiful wetlands for future generations.
This passage is from the video speech delivered by President Xi Jinping at the opening ceremony of the 14th Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention on November 5, 2022.
Wetlands take water as their soul, with luxuriant water plants and rich ecology. Together with forests and oceans, they are called the three major ecosystems of the earth. Known as the "kidney of the earth" and "gene bank of species".
In my country, the well-known wetlands include Ruoergai Wetland, Poyang Lake National Wetland Park, Hangzhou Xixi National Wetland Park, Shandong Yellow River Delta Wetland, etc.
Today, many cities in my country have been integrated with wetlands. Urban wetland parks with clear water, green banks and beautiful scenery have become good places for residents to relax, exercise and relax.
This shows that wetlands are not only related to the survival and development of human society, but also closely affect the comfort and happiness index of our lives.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has taken wetland protection and restoration as an important part of ecological civilization construction and made a series of decisions and deployments.
All localities and departments have coordinated efforts and taken multiple measures to effectively promote the protection, restoration and high-quality development of my country's wetlands from the aspects of strengthening legislation, law enforcement, management, and governance.
On June 1, 2022, China's first law dedicated to the protection of wetlands, the Wetland Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, was officially implemented, providing a solid legal guarantee for strengthening the protection and restoration of wetlands in my country.
In recent years, all localities have insisted on ecological priority and protection first, carried out regular patrol and law enforcement on local wetlands, dismantled illegal fences in wetlands in accordance with laws and regulations, and cleared illegal sand mining and papermaking around lakes in wetlands. Reduce the disturbance and damage of wetlands caused by human activities.
At the same time, local wetland ecosystems and ecological functions have been gradually restored by transplanting seedlings of flowers, plants and trees in various places according to local conditions, and through a combination of artificial restoration and natural restoration.
Some wetlands gradually restore wild animal populations in wetlands by introducing artificially raised elk and other animals and conducting wild training on them.
Many local wetland staff and volunteers have also carried out inspections to effectively protect and rescue lost and injured birds and other animals in the wetlands...
Today, migratory birds are singing, finless porpoises are jubilant, and elk are running in Dongting Lake, Hunan; reeds are rippling in the Yellow River Delta of Shandong, and swans and red-crowned cranes are flying; in Fangchenggang, Guangxi, a large area of mangroves complements the blue sea and blue sky... Through the joint efforts of all parties, the national wetland area has reached 5635 There are 64 internationally important wetlands, 29 nationally important wetlands, 1,021 provincial important wetlands, and more than 2,200 wetland nature reserves.
Among the 43 international wetland cities in the world, my country accounts for 13, ranking first in number.
The achievements of wetland protection are hard-won. We must cherish them, continue to work hard, and make contributions for a long time. We should further improve legislation, strengthen law enforcement, improve the wetland protection system, improve the management level and governance ability of wetlands, and more effectively promote the high-level protection of wetlands in our country. Quality development helps to build a modernization where man and nature coexist harmoniously.
Interpretation of this issue: Chen Ruihai, commentator of CNR