Our article: Protect mangroves and build a clean and beautiful world together
Mangroves are an indispensable and important part of the global ecosystem.XiJinpingThe general secretary pointed out that mangroves are "national treasures" and must be protected as well as eyes. Strengthening the construction of marine ecological civilization is an important part of the construction of ecological civilization. We must adhere to green development, work from generation to generation, work hard for a long time, build a beautiful China, and make China's contribution to protecting the global village. At present, protecting mangroves and jointly building a clean and beautiful world is the common responsibility of the international community.
Mangrove protection has global significance
Mangrove communities not only have strong ecological functions, but also produce huge economic and social benefits. Protecting mangroves is of great significance to human survival and development.
Mangroves help maintain the stability of global ecosystems. Tidal wetland systems such as mangroves, coral reefs and seaweed beds are important parts of coastal ecosystems and global ecosystems. They are interconnected with nearby land and freshwater habitats and are affected by the comprehensive influence of land, coastal and ocean processes, forming a wide range of complex Interdependence. Protecting mangroves is crucial to maintaining the survival and development of man and nature.
Mangroves are beneficial to mitigating global climate change. Mangroves are long-term carbon dioxide storage systems that capture carbon from the atmosphere for growth and store it in leaves, stems, roots and soil. Healthy mangrove ecosystems capture and store carbon at a much higher rate than other forest ecosystems. Worldwide, mangroves store approximately 21 billion tons of carbon dioxide, and preventing these carbon dioxide emissions is crucial. Protecting existing mangroves and restoring mangroves are necessary to expand the global carbon storage system.
Mangroves play an important role in maintaining biodiversity and ensuring residents 'livelihoods. Mangroves support complex ecosystems and biomes, provide interdependent habitats for thousands of species, and are home to 341 threatened species. Mangroves provide habitats for commercially important fish, crustaceans and mollusks, and provide food security for approximately 4.1 million fishermen. Mangroves are also natural coastal infrastructure, providing important protection against storms, coastal floods and erosion.
The global mangrove area is rapidly decreasing, endangering the global environment and human survival and development. Mangroves are one of the most fragile ecosystems in the world. Problems such as urban development, environmental pollution, and sea level rise threaten the healthy growth of mangroves. In the past 50 years, more than a quarter of the world's pristine mangroves have disappeared. In 2050, 50% of the world's mangrove ecosystem units are at risk of collapse, and nearly one-fifth of mangroves are at high risk of being endangered or critically endangered. As the economic, social and ecological values of mangroves will also decrease or even disappear, seriously threatening Human survival and development.
Mangrove protection faces triple difficulties
Mangroves are distributed in 123 countries and regions around the world and are an important part of the global ecological and climate system.sovereigntyResources and global public goods attributes are topic areas where international cooperation and competition coexist. Currently, mangrove protection faces three difficulties.
The costs, risks and benefits of mangrove protection do not match. The costs and risks of mangrove protection and restoration are borne by the actors, while the benefits are shared globally. The "tragedy of the commons" makes mangrove protection cooperation between countries face the problems of "justice","fairness" or "balance" of costs, risks and benefits. Given the huge country-by-country differences in mangrove resources and the huge total carbon dioxide storage, how to deal with the costs and risks of mangrove protection actions and how to realize mangrove blue carbon into circulation products in the global carbon trading system are global mangrove protection The core issues that need to be solved in cooperation.
The willingness, resources and capabilities to protect mangrove forests do not match. Under the pressure of economic and social development, mangrove forestssovereigntyCountries (especially developing countries among them) prefer development priority, especially when other countries can benefit without having to pay. mangrove forestssovereigntyThe country's willingness to protect is becoming increasingly weak. Affected by factors such as the mismatch between mangrove protection willingness and resource possession, insufficient mangrove protection capabilities, and backward technology, there are often cases of lack of cooperation or failure of cooperation between governments, investors, non-governmental organizations and communities in practice, which undermines confidence in cooperation.
Economy and people's livelihood compete for mangrove resources. Mangroves are distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, and most of the regions are developing countries. Coastal mangroves are often an important guarantee for local governments and communities to promote economic development, solve employment and provide food security. However, aquaculture, logging of fuel materials and land acquisition and development have caused a large number of mangroves to be felled. Mangrove restoration requires "returning ponds to forests (wet)" or "returning land (houses) to forests", which has an impact on residents 'livelihoods and local economic development, thus triggering competition for mangrove resources. How to transform "zero-sum" competition into "win-win" cooperation is an urgent issue that needs to be solved for mangrove protection.
Strengthen international cooperation to promote mangrove protection
Our country is an important participant, contributor and leader in the construction of global ecological civilization. It has achieved remarkable results in mangrove protection and is one of the few countries in the world with a net increase in mangrove area. To promote international cooperation in mangrove protection and solve the triple difficulties faced by mangrove protection, my country can lead the international community in three aspects.
Promote international systems and mechanisms for mangrove protection. It is necessary to promote the improvement of the international system for mangrove protection and improve relevant international treaties and action plans. Strengthen the deliberative and operational capabilities of the United Nations and international specialized organizations to promote mangrove protection. Propose the convening of a Global Mangrove Summit and form a Global Mangrove Conservation Alliance. Promote the global carbon trading negotiation process and establish a product value realization mechanism for mangrove blue carbon.
Promote global cooperation in mangrove scientific research and practical results. Promote international organizations mainly led by the United Nations to establish special mangrove protection projects, strengthen scientific research and standard system construction for mangrove protection and restoration, establish and improve mangrove monitoring networks and information platforms, and improve mangrove ecosystem dynamic monitoring capabilities and ecological restoration tracking and evaluation level. Give full play to the role of international cooperation platforms such as the International Mangrove Center to promote the sharing of global mangrove scientific research results, innovative technologies and best practice cases. Propose the establishment of a mangrove foundation to support the implementation of mangrove protection projects and promote international cooperation and joint actions for mangrove protection, restoration and rational utilization. Organize an international high-level forum and a non-governmental forum on mangrove protection to further build global consensus and encourage people to actively participate in mangrove protection. Carry out international education, exchange and training projects to strengthen the cultivation and assistance of mangrove human resources.
Promote a win-win mangrove governance model that is win-win for economy, environmental protection and people's livelihood. Learn from the successful experience of China and promote the "two models" and "one development" of mangrove protection. Establish a co-construction and co-management model for protected areas, planting areas and communities to mobilize people's enthusiasm to participate in mangrove protection. Cultivate an ecological coupling model for mangrove planting and breeding, use new technologies and management measures, and combine mangrove planting with fishery farming to achieve both ecological and people's livelihood improvement. Scientifically and rationally develop the "mangrove +" green industry to achieve win-win effects on ecological environment, cultural tourism education, and economy and people's livelihood.
Author's unit: School of Marxism, Lingnan Normal University
