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Protection plan issued to further conserve wetlands across China
CGTN

By 2025, 50 new wetlands of national importance will be established, and the national wetland protection rate will reach 55 percent, according to the National Wetland Protection Plan (2022-2030), jointly issued by China's Forestry and Grassland Administration and the Ministry of Natural Resources in October.

China now has a total area of 56.35 million hectares of wetlands, including mangrove forests, forested swamps, shrub swamps, marshes and other types of wetlands, according to the results of the third National Land Resource Survey and the 2020 National Land Change Survey.

Migratory birds at Guanting National Wetland Park in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, north China, November 15, 2021. /CFP
Migratory birds at Guanting National Wetland Park in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, north China, November 15, 2021. /CFP

Migratory birds at Guanting National Wetland Park in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, north China, November 15, 2021. /CFP

The plan clarifies the overall requirements, spatial layout and key tasks of China's wetland protection put forward by the development goals.

By 2025, the wetland protection rate will reach 55 percent, and degraded wetlands will be preserved using scientific methods. The forest area of mangroves will also be increased and its quality improved. The wetland protection laws and regulation systems will also be enhanced to further improve the quality of the wetland ecological system and stability. Moreover, 20 wetlands of international importance and 50 wetlands of national importance will be established.

The Yueliangwan Wetland Park in Xiangyang City, Hubei Province, central China, October 17, 2022. /CFP
The Yueliangwan Wetland Park in Xiangyang City, Hubei Province, central China, October 17, 2022. /CFP

The Yueliangwan Wetland Park in Xiangyang City, Hubei Province, central China, October 17, 2022. /CFP

By 2030, the wetland ecosystem function and biodiversity will be perfected, its comprehensive service function strengthened and its carbon sequestration capacity increased to make China an essential participant, contributor and leader in global wetland protection and restoration.

Mangrove forests in Hainan Province, south China, December 1, 2019. /CFP
Mangrove forests in Hainan Province, south China, December 1, 2019. /CFP

Mangrove forests in Hainan Province, south China, December 1, 2019. /CFP

2022 marks the 30th anniversary of China's accession to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Also, China's first Wetland Protection Law took effect on June 1 this year, marking a new stage of legalized development for wetland conservation in China.

(Cover image via CFP)

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