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BEIJING / WAM
China has been stepping up its efforts to maintain a stable area of wetland with emphasis on protection and systemic governance, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA).
Friday marked the 28th World Wetlands Day with the theme “Wetlands and Human Well-being,” which highlights the interconnectedness between wetlands and various aspects of human well-being.
According to China Central Television, the most recent data indicates that China possesses a total of 56.35 million hectares of wetlands, positioning it as the leading country in Asia and the fourth largest globally.
Among them, 82 wetlands are designated internationally important, and 58 are identified as nationally important.
China has so far established 903 national wetland parks and 13 cities were credited as international wetland cities.
Since 2012, China has implemented over 3,400 wetland protection projects, with more than 800,000 hectares of wetlands being created and restored.
It has compensated more than one million hectares of agricultural land for damage caused by birds in the wetlands.
China has also been stepping up efforts to restore mangroves, which are extremely important to the coastal ecosystem and protect shorelines from damaging winds, waves, and floods.
In 2020, the Ministry of Natural Resources and NFGA jointly issued a special five-year action plan to protect and restore mangroves.
As of now, China has planted 4,656 hectares of mangroves while restoring another 4,752 hectares, achieving half of its goals halfway through.
In 2023, the NFGA issued three national standards and five industry standards to provide technical support for the conservation and restoration of wetlands.