"Biodiversity makes the earth full of life and is the foundation of human survival and development. Protecting biodiversity contributes to the preservation of the earth's home and promotes the sustainable development of mankind. On October 12, 2021, at the 15th Summit of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, President Xi Jinping stressed this
As early as 2,000 years ago, Chinese philosophers put forward the idea of "all things breed together without harming each other" and "heaven and earth are born together with me, and all things are one with me", which embodies the concept of harmonious coexistence between man and nature
Through the construction of a scientific and reasonable nature reserve system, 90% of the terrestrial ecosystem types and 71% of the national key protected wild animal and plant species on the mainland have been effectively protected, and the wild populations of some rare and endangered species have been gradually restored
The number of giant pandas has increased from 1114 in the 1970s and 1864; the critically endangered Hainan gibbon has grown from 7 to 9 at its trough to more than 30; the crested ibises have recovered from 7 at the time of discovery to more than 5,000; and the Tibetan antelope has recovered from tens of thousands to more than 300,000 at present
In the past decade, about 200 new plant species have been discovered in China every year, accounting for 1/10 of the annual number of new plant species in the world
The concept of "green water and green mountains is golden mountains and silver mountains" has been widely accepted by Chinese society, which has enhanced China's leading position in biodiversity conservation
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the mainland has promulgated and revised more than 20 laws and regulations related to biodiversity, including the Forest Law, the Grassland Law, the Fisheries Law, the Wildlife Protection Law, the Environmental Protection Law, the Marine Environmental Protection Law, the Seed Law, the Wetland Law, the Yangtze River Protection Law and the Biosecurity Law
Integrated management of landscapes, forests, lakes, grass and sand, the mainland has carried out a series of fundamental, pioneering and long-term work, and the construction of ecological civilization has undergone historical, turning and overall changes from the realization of practice
Since 2019, China has become the largest contributor to the core budget of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Protocols
China's declaration, China's responsibility and China's proposition on biodiversity conservation will surely inject stronger confidence and impetus into global ecological and environmental governance
Wen | Gao Jing, a reporter for the "Lookout" news weekly
22 May, International Day for Biological Diversity.
Biodiversity is related to human well-being and is an important foundation for human survival and development. As early as 2,000 years ago, Chinese philosophers put forward the idea of "all things breed together without harming each other" and "heaven and earth are born together with me, and all things are one with me", which embodies the concept of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.
The vast continent, land and sea, complex and diverse landscapes and climates have bred rich and unique ecosystems, species and genetic diversity, making it one of the most biodiverse countries in the world and one of the first Parties to sign and ratify the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.
When ecology prospers, civilization prospers, and when ecology declines, civilization declines.
"Biodiversity makes the earth full of life and is the foundation of human survival and development. Protecting biodiversity contributes to the preservation of the earth's home and promotes the sustainable development of mankind. On October 12, 2021, at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) Leaders' Summit, President Xi Jinping stressed this.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, the mainland has adhered to ecological priority and green development, the legal system of ecological environmental protection has been improved day by day, the supervision mechanism has been continuously strengthened, the basic capacity has been greatly improved, the new pattern of biodiversity governance has basically taken shape, and biodiversity conservation has entered a new historical period.
Protection Repair China Answer Sheet
"Look! It's out again! One, two, at least six..." On the afternoon of April 22, Xu Jianli, president of the Wuhan Xinzhou District Environmental Protection Volunteer Association, once again saw the picture of the porpoise playing in the water on the Yangtze River.
The Yangtze River finless porpoise is the flagship species of biodiversity and an indicator species of the ecological health of the Yangtze River. At 00:00 on January 1, 2021, the 10-year fishing ban in key waters of the Yangtze River Basin was fully launched. Fishermen have come ashore and finless porpoises are "going home".
A cute porpoise, a giant panda, an orchid in a deep valley... Biodiversity makes the blue planet come alive.
According to statistics, more than 3 billion people worldwide depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods, and more than 1.6 billion people depend on forest and non-timber forest products for their livelihoods. More than 50% of the world's medicinal ingredients are derived from natural animals and plants.
However, the rate of global species extinction is accelerating, and biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation pose significant risks to human survival and development. Reports show that about 1 million species of flora and fauna are currently threatened with extinction, and many of them will likely become extinct in the coming decades. The current rate of species extinction is tens to hundreds of times higher than the average of the past 10 million years, and it is accelerating.
"We must stand at the height of being responsible for human civilization, respect nature, conform to nature, protect nature, explore the road of harmonious coexistence between man and nature, promote the coordination and unity of economic development and ecological protection, and build a prosperous, clean and beautiful world." On September 30, 2020, President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech via video at the United Nations Biodiversity Summit.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, the mainland has continuously strengthened the protection and restoration of wild animals and plants and habitats through various measures such as promoting the construction of the nature reserve system and cracking down on illegal trade, and has achieved remarkable results in biodiversity conservation.
Continuously optimize the in-situ protection system. The mainland actively promotes the establishment of a system of natural protected areas with national parks as the main body, nature reserves as the basis, and various natural parks as supplements, protects important natural ecosystems and biological resources, and plays an active role in maintaining the habitats of important species.
In 2021, a major "net red" in the animal kingdom is not the wild Asian elephants in Yunnan who "walk around and eat all the way". Moving from the north to the south, the elephant herd traveled more than 1,000 kilometers in a roundabout way, and the elephant protection action of the Chinese government and the masses won the world's recognition. Through years of conservation, the wild population of Asian elephants on the mainland has increased from 180 in the 1980s to about 300 today.
On August 12, 2021, a herd of Asian elephants entered Mojiang County, Yunnan Province, returning to their traditional habitat. The journey north and return of elephants in Yunnan reflects the achievements of China's wildlife conservation
Since 2015, the mainland has launched 10 pilot national park systems such as Sanjiangyuan. In 2021, the first batch of national parks such as Sanjiangyuan, giant panda, Northeast tiger and leopard, Hainan Tropical Rainforest, and Wuyi Mountain will be officially established.
Up to now, the total number of various types of nature reserves on the mainland is nearly 10,000, and the area of various types of nature reserves exceeds 170 million hectares, accounting for about 18% of the land area, and the target of 17% by 2020 proposed by the Convention on Biological Diversity has been completed ahead of schedule. The total area of marine nature reserves is 124,000 square kilometers, accounting for about 4.1% of the sea area under the jurisdiction of the mainland.
The ecological protection redline system is an institutional innovation in the control of national land space in the mainland, which further strengthens the protection of key biodiversity areas. Since the start of the work in 2014, the area of the national ecological protection redline initially delineated by the mainland is not less than 25% of the land area, and the areas with extremely important ecological functions such as biodiversity maintenance and the areas with extremely fragile ecology are classified as ecological protection redlines for strict protection.
In September 2019, at the UN Secretary-General's Climate Action Summit "Nature-Based Solutions (NBS)", China's ecological protection redline case was successfully selected as one of the world's 15 high-quality cases.
Through the construction of a scientific and reasonable nature reserve system, 90% of the terrestrial ecosystem types and 71% of the national key protected wild animal and plant species on the mainland have been effectively protected, and the wild populations of some rare and endangered species have been gradually restored. From the south to the north, from the inland to the seashore, more and more rare animals and animals are returning, showing the beauty of nature and ecology.
At present, the number of giant pandas has increased from 1114 in the 1970s and 1864; the critically endangered Hainan gibbon has increased from 7 to 9 at the trough to more than 30; the crested ibises have recovered from 7 at the time of discovery to more than 5,000; and the Tibetan antelope has recovered from tens of thousands to more than 300,000 at present.
On January 28, 2021, the crested ibises roosted on the rocks of the Han River section of Pangwan Village, Jinjinxia Town, Yang County, Shaanxi Province
Continue to increase the protection of ex-situ. The mainland has established a relatively complete ex situ conservation system such as botanical gardens, zoos (including marine parks and aquariums), wildlife rescue and breeding bases, germplasm resource banks and gene banks.
On April 18 this year, the National Botanical Garden was officially inaugurated in Beijing, taking a new step in China's biodiversity conservation cause. The National Botanical Garden will focus on collecting more than 30,000 species of native plants in the Three Northern Regions, representative plants of the Northern Temperate Zone, representative plants of different geographical divisions of the world and rare and endangered plants, collect 5 million specimens of representative plants from five continents, and build 20 special gardens, 7 systematic evolutionary plant display areas and 1 native plant conservation area.
In recent years, the mainland has paid more attention to the protection of germplasm resources, established nearly 200 botanical gardens (arboretums), preserved more than 23,000 species of plants (accounting for about 60% of the total number of plant species in China), and systematically collected and preserved the germplasm resources of endangered plants such as orchids, cycads, and magnolias. Some extremely small populations of wild plants, such as Putuo goose ear maple, canopy wood, and Emei Hanxiao, have initially got rid of the risk of extinction.
A species is a gene pool. In the dense forests of the northern suburbs of Kunming, the Germplasm Resource Bank of Southwest China preserves more than 10,000 species of plant seeds, such as tung tree, Himalayan yew, Maitreya moss... The seeds of tens of thousands of wild plants, including many rare and endangered plants, inhabit this "Noah's Ark". This germplasm resource bank, together with the Kew Millennium Seed Bank in the United Kingdom and the Global Seed Bank in Svalbard, Norway, has become an important facility for global biodiversity conservation.
At present, there are more than 240 zoos (animal exhibition areas) in the country, raising 775 kinds of animals at home and abroad; establishing 250 wildlife rescue and breeding bases, and successfully breeding more than 60 kinds of rare and endangered wild animals and establishing stable artificial populations.
The national biosafety management capacity has continued to improve. In recent years, the mainland biotechnology has developed healthily, the protection and supervision of biological genetic resources have been continuously strengthened, and the prevention and control mechanism of alien species invasion has been gradually improved.
The Great Black Bowback Ant, the Javan Short-breasted Celestial Bull, the Sage Sage... These alien species are intercepted by local customs from passengers' luggage, mail and other channels. In the first quarter of this year, customs across the country intercepted a total of 173 species of quarantine pests and 13,900 times.
While strengthening port prevention and control and strictly preventing and controlling the invasion of alien species, the mainland has focused on improving the safety management of genetically modified organisms and strengthening the supervision of biological genetic resources. In recent years, relevant departments have organized the national census of traditional Chinese medicine resources, the national census and collection of crop germplasm resources, the census of livestock and poultry genetic resources, and the census of forest and grass germplasm resources. Identify the background of biological genetic resources, and clarify the current status of distribution, protection and utilization of important biological genetic resources.
In the past decade, about 200 new plant species have been discovered in China every year, accounting for 1/10 of the annual number of new plant species in the world.
Systematic governance Chinese wisdom
May 5, Sanjiangyuan National Park. The first batch of 137 female Tibetan antelopes to be born passed through the Qinghai-Tibet Railway and the Qinghai-Tibet Highway Animal Passage to the Coco Xili Zhuonai Lake, where the calves are born. The annual large-scale migration of Tibetan antelope in Coco Xili began.
"The continuous improvement of the survival status of the Tibetan antelope population is one of the successful cases of human participation in species conservation." Lian Xinming, a researcher at the Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said.
The story of the "plateau spirit" Tibetan antelope is like a microcosm, witnessing the Chinese wisdom of biodiversity conservation.
Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the mainland's biodiversity conservation has taken the construction of a beautiful China as the goal, actively adapted to the new situation and new requirements, elevated biodiversity conservation to a national strategy, improved the system of policies and regulations, promoted the organic combination of biodiversity conservation and the improvement of people's livelihood, coordinated the promotion of the integrated protection and systematic governance of grass and sand in landscapes, forests, lakes, and lakes, and continuously improved the ability of biodiversity governance.
Adhere to the harmonious coexistence of man and nature, and actively promote the mainstreaming process of biodiversity conservation with national strategies——
Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has personally planned and arranged the deployment of major projects for biodiversity conservation, and has elevated biodiversity as an important part of the construction of ecological civilization and has been elevated to a national strategy.
On September 11, 2015, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting to deliberate and adopt the "Overall Plan for the Reform of the Ecological Civilization System", which became the top-level design of the reform in the field of ecological civilization in the mainland.
For the mainstreaming process of biodiversity conservation, Cui Shuhong, director of the Department of Natural Ecology and Conservation of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, has a particularly deep feeling. He introduced that in recent years, the mainland has included biodiversity conservation in the important agenda of government departments, and clearly established "the rate of biodiversity loss has been basically controlled, and the stability of the national ecosystem has been significantly enhanced" as one of the main goals of ecological civilization construction, and has gradually been included in various planning plans at all levels.
The 14th Five-Year Plan and the 2035 Long-term Target Outline systematically deploy the implementation of major biodiversity conservation projects and the construction of biodiversity conservation networks as key tasks to improve the quality and stability of ecosystems.
Accelerate the construction of an ecological civilization system and build a system of "four beams and eight pillars" for the protection of thousands of grasses and trees——
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the mainland has promulgated and revised more than 20 laws and regulations related to biodiversity, including the Forest Law, the Grassland Law, the Fisheries Law, the Wildlife Protection Law, the Environmental Protection Law, the Marine Environmental Protection Law, the Seed Law, the Wetland Law, the Yangtze River Protection Law and the Biosecurity Law, covering the fields of wildlife and important ecosystem protection, biosecurity, access to biological genetic resources and benefit-sharing.
On February 24, 2020, the 16th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress adopted the Decision on Completely Banning Illegal Wildlife Trade, Eliminating the Bad Habit of Indiscriminately Eating Wild Animals, and Effectively Protecting the People's Life, Health and Safety. A series of policies and regulations, medium- and long-term planning and action plans provide a solid institutional guarantee for biodiversity conservation and management.
Adhere to the green water and green mountains is the golden mountain and silver mountain, and promote the organic combination of biodiversity conservation and improvement of people's livelihood——
Hu Bin, a villager in YuCun, Tianhuangping Town, Anji County, Zhejiang Province, is a native of China. The scene of the village digging in the mountains and mines in the early years, the rumbling of cannons and the dust of the sky are the deepest memories of his childhood.
In 2005, Xi Jinping, then secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, came to Yucun to inspect and put forward the scientific thesis that "green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains".
Yucun, which firmly implements this important concept, now has a new look. With the closure of the mine to restore the ecology, the current Yucun village has a view in all four seasons. Five years ago, Hu Bin, who had been working outside for many years, returned to his hometown and opened an inn.
From "selling stones" to "selling scenery", the two-way transformation of "green water and green mountains" and "golden mountains and silver mountains" has been realized, reflecting the historic change of China's green development concept.
Explore the accounting of the gross production value of the ecosystem, expand the horizontal ecological compensation of the river basin, and vigorously develop the green ecological industry... All localities have explored the two-way transformation of "green water and green mountains" and "golden mountains and silver mountains", and ecological protection and economic development have embarked on a win-win road.
Ying'e Annoson, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, said that the concept of "green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains" has been widely accepted by Chinese society, which has enhanced China's leading position in biodiversity conservation.
Adhere to the system concept, and comprehensively promote the integrated protection of grass and sand in landscapes, forests, lakes and lakes and system governance——
Landscapes, forests, lakes, grass and sand are an inseparable community of life.
In November 2013, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed in his note on the Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning the Comprehensive Deepening of Reform that "Shanshui Lintian Lake is a community of life". Since then, this important exposition has been continuously enriched and expanded, adding "grass" and "sand" in 2017 and 2021 respectively, focusing on adhering to the concept of system, starting from the integrity of the ecosystem, promoting the integrated protection and restoration of grass and sand in landscapes, forests, lakes, and lakes, and improving the stability and sustainability of the ecosystem.
A series of major ecological projects such as the Three North ShelterBelts, the protection of natural forests, and the return of farmland to forests and grasslands have been further promoted; the establishment of a natural protected area system with national parks as the main body has been accelerated; the river chief system and the lake chief system have been fully established, and one river after another and lakes have exclusive guardians... Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the mainland has integrated the management of landscapes, forests, fields, lakes, grass and sand, carried out a series of fundamental, pioneering and long-term work, and the construction of ecological civilization has undergone historical, turning and overall changes from the realization of practice.
In recent years, based on major biodiversity conservation projects, the mainland has comprehensively carried out biodiversity surveys and assessments, and has basically ascertained the status of biodiversity on the mainland, and completed the investigation and assessment of nearly 180 county biodiversity backgrounds and more than 3500 kilometers of coastal wetland ecosystems. The mainland has initially formed a national biodiversity observation network, established 749 observation sample areas, laid out a national biodiversity observation network with 11,887 sample lines and sample points, and constructed a species distribution database with 2,376 county-level administrative units and observation lines of more than 34,000 kilometers.
The Secretariat of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity released the fifth edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook in September 2020, which showcased China's successful experience in biodiversity conservation on 13 occasions. The Chinese wisdom and Chinese solution of the unity of heaven and man, the Taoist law and nature have won the affirmation of the world.
The homeland of the earth is china's responsibility
Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park, the mountains and forests are lush, and the refreshing green comes to the face.
On April 11, during his inspection tour of Hainan, General Secretary Xi Jinping went deep into the Wuzhishan area, walked along the wooden boardwalk to inspect the ecological environment of the park, and stopped from time to time to inquire about tree growth, water conservation, animal and plant resource protection, etc.
"The Hainan tropical rainforest does not belong to Hainan alone, but to the people of the whole country, to the earth, and to the national treasure." General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that Hainan should adhere to the unshakable ecological province, take the construction of ecological civilization as the top priority, strictly protect the tropical rainforest, realize the unity of ecological protection, green development and improvement of people's livelihood, and show the world the fruitful results of China's national park construction and biodiversity conservation.
Biodiversity conservation has China's declaration, China's responsibility, and China's proposition.
Building consensus to build a community of life on earth is China's declaration-
At present, human beings stand at the crossroads of biodiversity conservation and global sustainable development. The earth is the common home of mankind, and in the face of global challenges such as biodiversity loss, all countries are in the same boat of destiny.
On October 12, 2021, at the 15th Summit of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, President Xi Jinping pointed out: "The international community should strengthen cooperation, think and work hard to build a community of life on earth. ”
The Kunming Declaration, which was put forward by China and gathered broad consensus from all parties, was formally adopted at the high-level meeting. The Declaration commits to ensuring the development, adoption and implementation of an effective post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework to reverse current trends in biodiversity loss and to put biodiversity on the path to restoration by 2030 at the latest, leading to the full realization of the 2050 Vision of Harmonious Coexistence between Man and Nature.
Large-scale painted works in the press centre of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, showing a beautiful ecological environment and rich biodiversity (photo taken on 12 October 2021) Photo by Nan Wang/ This journal
Firmly implementing the contract and participating in global biodiversity governance is China's responsibility.
As an important participant and contributor to global biodiversity conservation, China actively implements the Convention and its Protocols, provides the world with solutions that can be used as references, and fully demonstrates the responsibility of major countries.
Since 2019, China has become the largest contributor to the core budget of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Protocols. China has become the largest contributor to the Global Environment Facility for developing countries.
In May 2016, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released the report "Green Waters and Green Mountains are Golden Mountains and Silver Mountains: Strategies and Actions for China's Ecological Civilization". China's ecological civilization construction has become a useful exploration and concrete practice of the concept of sustainable development, providing experience for other countries to cope with similar economic, environmental and social challenges.
These Chinese practices embody China's wisdom and further release a strong signal to the world that China will unswervingly take the road of green development.
Extensive cooperation to jointly safeguard the earth's homeland is China's proposition -
In the Sino-Russian cross-border nature reserve, the number of species continues to grow, and wild Siberian tigers have begun to migrate freely between Chinese and Russian protected areas.
In the China-Laos Cross-Border Biodiversity Joint Conservation Area, this 200,000-hectare "paradise" effectively protects rare and endangered species such as Asian elephants and their habitats.
At the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity Leaders' Summit, President Xi Jinping solemnly announced that China will take the lead in investing 1.5 billion yuan to establish the Kunming Biodiversity Fund to support the cause of biodiversity conservation in developing countries.
China's declaration, China's responsibility and China's proposition on biodiversity conservation will surely inject stronger confidence and impetus into global ecological and environmental governance.
According to the previous arrangement, the second phase of the COP15 meeting will continue to be held in Kunming this year, and the "Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework" will be discussed to jointly draw a blueprint for global biodiversity conservation in the next 10 years or more.
It is expected that this meeting will adopt an ambitious, balanced and pragmatic "framework" that will truly help all countries to help each other, work together, cooperate for win-win results, and build a community of life on earth.
The future can be expected. Standing at a new starting point and walking hand in hand with the international community, we will certainly be able to build a beautiful earth home together. ■