The world influence of China's wetland protection program has increased significantly
Our reporter Zhang Wei
February 2nd is "World Wetlands Day".
On February 2, 1971, representatives from 18 countries signed the "Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, Especially as Waterfowl Habitats" (hereinafter referred to as the "Wetlands Convention") in Ramsar, a small seaside town in southern Iran.
Since 1997, every year on this day, countries around the world have held different forms of activities to promote the protection of natural resources and the ecological environment. World Wetland Day has thus entered our lives.
"There are only seven years left before we achieve the sustainable development goals in 2030, and we have a long way to go, and we have no time to wait." On the eve of the 2023 World Wetlands Day, Musonda Mumba, the new Secretary-General of the International Convention on Wetlands (Musonda Mumba), mobilized in a video The speech said that by activating all relevant actors from the public to key stakeholders, we are mobilizing an entire generation to restore wetlands.
The Chinese government has played a key role in wetland protection and restoration.
China's achievements have attracted the attention of the world, and the world influence of China's wetland protection plan and China's model has increased significantly.
Urgent need to stop rapid loss of wetlands
This year's "World Wetlands Day" takes "Wetland Restoration" as the theme.
In fact, wetlands are all around us.
"The reeds are green, the white dew is frost", this beautiful text describes the wetland landscape.
As Musanda Mumba said, "Wetlands exist in every corner of our beautiful planet. They are the arteries and veins of the earth's landscape. Majestic and powerful wetlands are beautiful landscapes."
Of course, the "beauty of nature" displayed by the wetland is only one of its many powerful functions.
Known as the "kidneys of the Earth", wetlands support critical ecosystems and biodiversity.
According to Zhang Mingxiang, a professor at Beijing Forestry University and secretary-general of the Nature Reserve Research Center of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, wetlands are one of the three major ecosystems in the world, and are the transition zone between land and water, so they are very rich in species, known as the "gene bank of species." Biological supermarket", the global wetland area accounts for between 6% and 8.6% of the land area, but it stores more than 40% of the world's known species, and many unknown species are also distributed in wetlands, especially many important habitats for water birds It is also a transit point for international migratory bird migration.
Wetlands also play a role in mitigating climate change.
Zhang Mingxiang explained that a large number of plants grow in wetlands, and these plants absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen, and play an important role as a carbon sink.
In addition, as an important part of wetland resources, peat swamp wetlands are important carbon pools in terrestrial ecosystems. The carbon storage per unit area is the highest among all types of terrestrial ecosystems, and play an important role in regulating the regional environment.
Peat bog wetlands, which cover 3% of the world's land area, store twice as much carbon as forests worldwide.
That's why Musanda Mumba calls wetlands "sources of water" and "purifiers," as well as "the largest natural carbon sink on Earth."
The importance of wetlands does not match the reality that nearly 90% of the world's wetlands have been degraded or lost to date.
According to the official website of the United Nations, wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests. Since 1970, in just 50 years, 35% of the world's wetlands have disappeared.
Human activities such as agricultural and construction drainage and filling, overfishing and overexploitation of resources, as well as factors such as invasive species and climate change contribute to the rapid loss of wetlands.
"Today, there is an urgent need to raise global awareness of wetlands to halt and reverse their rapid loss and to encourage action to restore and protect these important ecosystems," said Musanda Mumba.
The Chinese government plays a key role
From the perspective of the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, governments and other stakeholders are key players in ensuring that wetland restoration actions are implemented locally.
From June 1, 2022, China's Wetland Protection Law will come into effect.
This is an important achievement of my country's ecological civilization and rule of law construction. It is the first time that my country has specifically implemented legislation to protect wetland ecosystems, leading my country's wetland protection work to fully enter the legal track and opening a new chapter in protection work.
As Bao Daming, deputy director of the Wetland Department of the State Forestry and Grass Administration, said, the Wetland Protection Law is an important guarantee for promoting the high-quality development of wetland protection in the new era.
In order to fully implement the Wetland Protection Law and promote the high-quality development of wetland protection, in October 2022, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the Ministry of Natural Resources jointly issued the "National Wetland Protection Plan (2022-2030)".
The plan clarifies the overall requirements, spatial layout and key tasks of my country's wetland protection.
The implementation of the wetland protection plan will help achieve the medium and long-term goals of wetland protection in my country, promote the high-quality development of wetland protection, and improve the ecological functions of wetlands.
A series of concrete actions will also be launched in 2022.
Statistics from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration show that in 2022, experts will be organized to review the feasibility studies of 27 wetland protection and restoration projects, 554 million yuan will be invested in the central budget, and 13 major wetland protection and restoration projects will be implemented.
Implement the 2 billion yuan central budget in 2022, and guide the implementation of multiple wetland protection and restoration and wetland ecological protection compensation projects in various regions.
The State Forestry and Grassland Administration also jointly issued the "Guidelines for the Preparation of Important Wetland Restoration Programs" jointly with five departments.
At the same time, promote the compilation of standards and standardize wetland restoration technology.
In August 2022, the State Forestry and Grassland Administration issued the "Regulations on the Identification and List Release of National Important Wetlands", which further standardized the application conditions and release procedures for national important wetlands.
The "National Important Wetland Management Measures (Draft for Comment)" was drafted and formed.
Guide all localities to publish 34 provincial-level important wetlands. Up to now, there are 1,027 provincial-level important wetlands nationwide.
The level of wetland protection supervision has also been vigorously improved in 2022.
According to the relevant person in charge of the Wetland Management Department of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration will organize the full coverage of satellite image interpretation of suspected problems in national and international important wetlands and national wetland parks in 2022, and deploy and supervise provincial forestry and grassland authorities. Suspected problem points are checked.
Incorporate the protection and management of wetland resources into the assessment scope of this year's forest length system, refine the assessment and scoring standards for forest length system wetlands, and organize the assessment of content related to forest length system wetlands.
At the same time, continue to strengthen the pre-acceptance review of national wetland parks, carry out satellite image interpretation of 93 national wetland parks that have applied for acceptance this year, and use the rectification situation as an important basis for acceptance.
In 2022, 61 national wetland parks will pass the pilot acceptance.
China's wetland conservation achievements shine
Visible changes have confirmed the effectiveness of the Chinese government in protecting and restoring wetlands - my country has become one of the few countries in the world with a net increase in mangrove forest area, demonstrating the magical power of "coastal guardians" and "wave-dissipating pioneers".
The number of national wetland parks has increased to 903, continuously providing the public with good ecological and environmental benefits, and at the same time realizing the organic transformation of the "two mountains theory".
During the migratory bird migration season, flying creatures stop in the beautiful wetlands, witnessing the achievements of my country's continuous efforts in wetland protection...
All these have also contributed to our country's confidence to shine on the world stage.
From November 5th to 13th, 2022, the 14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Wetlands will be held in Wuhan, China and Geneva, Switzerland, with the theme of "Care for Wetlands, Harmonious Coexistence between Man and Nature".
A total of 142 contracting parties and more than 950 representatives of relevant international organizations attended the meeting.
The conference formed landmark achievements such as the "Wuhan Declaration", "2025-2030 Global Wetland Conservation Strategic Framework", and the establishment of the "International Mangrove Center" in Shenzhen, China.
"The "Wuhan Declaration" is a gathering of the common will and actions of all parties to promote the protection, restoration and rational use of wetlands. It reflects China's responsibility as a major country and its leadership in the protection and rational use of wetlands around the world." Zhang Mingxiang said.
In particular, the manifesto mentions wetlands legislation and enforcement.
"Guaranteeing the rule of law is one of the most important wetland protection explorations in China. This inclusion in the declaration is based on the practical experience of wetland protection in China and provides useful reference for other parties, which has not appeared in previous declarations."
At this conference, the great achievements China has made in wetland protection since its implementation of the Convention for 30 years left a deep impression on the world: as of now, China's wetland area has reached 56.35 million hectares, ranking first in Asia and fourth in the world. The wetland protection law has been promulgated, and important wetlands are included in the red line of ecological protection, and a wetland protection system with national parks, wetland nature reserves and wetland parks as the main body has been initially established.
And as an individual, you should not stay out of it.
Zhang Mingxiang said that individuals must first realize the importance of the wetland ecosystem, and start from their own side, such as not causing environmental pollution, water pollution and wetland damage, and not disturbing the habitat and survival of water birds.
(Rule of Law Daily)