China formulates 7-year biodiversity conservation plan

China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment on Wednesday announced that the country will launch a comprehensive seven-year biodiversity conservation program, comprising seven major tasks and 28 projects, which includes conducting surveys in key areas, prioritizing species and investigating vital biological genetic resources.

The program was announced at an event marking the International Day for Biological Diversity in Wuzhishan City, south China's Hainan Province.

China has made significant progress in promoting biodiversity conservation in recent years and is committed to establishing a near-complete national botanical garden system in the next decade.

This year, China will conduct background surveys on the biodiversity of several counties in key conservation areas, incorporating field assessments of plant growth, wild animal reproduction, ecosystem distribution and the spatial impact of human activities in the source region of the Yellow River.

Since 2012, the country has diligently enhanced its protection system by enacting and amending over 30 laws and regulations, revising the list of nationally protected wildlife and plants, establishing the national ecological red line, and advancing the construction of numerous national parks. 

As a result, over 43 percent of areas now boast good-quality conditions, fostering steady growth in populations of rare and endangered wildlife like giant pandas, the Hainan black-crested gibbon and the sago palm.

China has also issued a plan to designate 16 areas as candidates for national botanical gardens.

"By 2035, China will strive to set up about 10 national botanical gardens so that more than 80 percent of wild plants under key state protection and more than 70 percent of rare and endangered wild plants can be effectively protected in situ, and a relatively complete national botanical garden system will be established," said Zhang Dehui, deputy director of Wildlife Protection Department of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration of China.

Separately, the Biodiversity Committee of the Chinese Academy of Sciences released the Catalogue of Life China 2024 Annual Checklist on Wednesday, which contains a total of 155,364 species and infraspecific units, an increase of 6,423 species and 267 infraspecific units over the 2023 edition.

(Cover: Preschoolers visit an aquarium in Pingliang City, Gansu Province, northwest China, May 22, 2024. /CFP)