Biodiversity is the foundation for human survival and development, and the blood and foundation of the community of life on earth. At the end of 2022, China, as the presidency of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), promoted the conclusion of a package of landmark outcome documents such as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (hereinafter referred to as the "Kunming-Montreal Framework"), opening a new chapter in global biodiversity governance. At this important moment, updating and releasing the China Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (2023-2030) (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan") is an important measure to implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on biodiversity conservation, a scientific guide to comprehensively improve the level of biodiversity governance, and a practical action for the COP15 presidency to continue to promote the implementation of the "Kunmeng Framework".
New achievements have been made in biodiversity conservation through the linkage between the central government and the local government
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, China has actively promoted the construction of ecological civilization and biodiversity conservation, and has taken a series of effective measures. Under the guidance of the central government, local governments have responded positively, and multi-level actions have been taken at the provincial, municipal and county levels, and the atmosphere of central and local governments working together to promote biodiversity conservation has become stronger, providing Chinese solutions and experiences for building a community of life on earth and promoting sustainable development of mankind.
First, laws and policies are more systematic. We insist on using the strictest system and the strictest rule of law to protect the ecological environment and biodiversity, and build a "1+4+N" legal system that combines comprehensive law, regional law and element law. The "Opinions on Further Strengthening Biodiversity Conservation" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions") was issued to lead the transformation and development of national biodiversity governance. Continue to promote the mainstreaming of biodiversity conservation, and integrate biodiversity and ecological protection into national and local development plans, spatial plans, and special plans for ecological protection. Yunnan, Jiangsu, Shandong and other provinces have promulgated provincial-level biodiversity conservation regulations, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Xinjiang, Gansu, Tibet and other 18 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) have successively issued the implementation plan of the Opinions, Beijing, Shandong, Hebei, Chongqing, Zhejiang, Heilongjiang, Hainan and other provinces have successively updated and released provincial-level biodiversity conservation plans or plans, many cities and counties are also actively promoting the formulation or updating of local conservation plans, and the legal basis and policy system of biodiversity conservation have been continuously improved.
Second, the protection and restoration will be more long-term. Establish an ecological protection redline system, and classify more than 30% of the land area as ecological protection redlines and strictly protect them. A system of protected areas with national parks as the main body has been established, and the first batch of five national parks has been formally established, with various types of protected areas accounting for 18% of the land area. Promote the construction of the national botanical garden system in an orderly manner, and set up two national botanical gardens. 51 integrated protection and restoration projects of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands and sands have been deployed and implemented, and a total of more than 5 million hectares have been completed. We will implement major projects for the protection and restoration of important ecosystems across the country, and comprehensively promote the construction of 100 key projects. The 10-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River has been further promoted, and the amount of aquatic biological resources in the Yangtze River basin has shown a recovery trend. All regions have actively implemented the national strategic deployment, delineated and strictly adhered to the red lines of ecological protection, accelerated the integration and optimization of various types of protected areas, strengthened the management of priority areas for biodiversity conservation, and solidly promoted major projects for ecological protection and restoration, further strengthening the intensity, breadth and depth of ecological protection and restoration.
Third, the investigation and evaluation are more in-depth. Biodiversity background surveys of more than 180 county-level administrative regions in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and other national strategic regions have been completed, and 749 observation sample areas of birds, amphibians, mammals and butterflies have been established, and the "family tree" of biodiversity in China has been continuously enriched. Completed the national biodiversity assessment, and prepared and released China's first white paper on biodiversity conservation based on this. The assessment of the endangered status of biodiversity, and the joint release and update of the volume of higher plants and vertebrates on the Red List of Biodiversity of China with the Chinese Academy of Sciences have become an important scientific basis for policy formulation. Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hubei, Hainan, Liaoning, Hebei and Anhui have carried out county-level biodiversity background surveys throughout the province, Hainan, Guangxi, Xinjiang and other regions have promoted the investigation and assessment of invasive alien species in priority areas for biodiversity conservation, Zhejiang, Guizhou and Hainan have taken the initiative to carry out the evaluation of the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation in the province, Hunan, Yunnan and other provinces and cities such as Shenzhen and Lishui have issued white papers on biodiversity, and Zhejiang has formulated a biodiversity friendliness index and implemented it throughout the province.
Fourth, the value realization is more distinctive. Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangsu, Hubei, Qinghai, Guangxi, Shandong, Henan, Chongqing, etc. have actively carried out exploration and practice, and the state has successively released four batches of typical cases of ecological product value realization. With the demonstration creation as the carrier, seven batches of 572 national ecological civilization construction demonstration zones and 240 "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" practice and innovation bases were named. We have carried out pilot projects for eco-environment-oriented development (EOD) models, actively and steadily promoted the operation and development of ecological products, and pushed a total of 229 EOD projects to financial institutions, with a total investment of 971.8 billion yuan. All localities have given full play to the advantages of natural resources, built a high-quality and diversified ecological product system, promoted the development of biodiversity-friendly green industries, and promoted the sustainable use of biological resources.
Fifth, propaganda and education are more three-dimensional. All departments and regions should seize key opportunities and time nodes such as COP15, National Ecology Day, June Five-Year Environment Day, and May 22 International Biodiversity Day, actively cooperate with mainstream media, and use new media platforms to carry out various forms of publicity, education and science popularization activities, in-depth promotion of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, actively publicize relevant laws, regulations and scientific knowledge, and comprehensively report on biodiversity conservation policies, measures and remarkable achievements. Yunnan, Guangxi, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Sichuan and Jiangsu have successfully held the COP15 China Corner theme publicity activities to showcase the effectiveness of local biodiversity conservation to the world. All localities should fully tap the local biological resource endowment and traditional culture, explore and promote popular science research and immersive experience of biodiversity, innovate and build biodiversity-friendly cities, experience places, nature education bases, etc., organize and carry out summer camps, training camps, bird watching competitions, slow live broadcasts and other ecological and cultural theme activities, improve the interactivity and interest of popular science education, and stimulate the public's enthusiasm for biodiversity conservation.
Hand in hand to open up a new situation in biodiversity governance
Gratifying progress has been made in biodiversity conservation, but we are also soberly aware that the objective situation of biodiversity loss is still grim, and the pressure on biodiversity is still intensifying. Biodiversity loss is a common challenge facing all mankind, and we must work together to reverse the trend of biodiversity loss as soon as possible and put nature on the road to recovery.
Now that a new era of biodiversity governance has begun, it is time to turn consensus into action and blueprint into reality. In the new era, the importance of "synergy" in biodiversity conservation has become more prominent, and one of the most important is the coordination between the central and local governments. The "Opinions" require that responsibilities should be consolidated at different levels, and that the central level should do a good job in top-level design, formulate and introduce policy measures, plans and technical specifications, etc., and strengthen guidance and support for local work, and that local party committees and governments at all levels should implement the responsibilities of biodiversity conservation and form a joint force. The Action Plan proposes to strengthen the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee over biodiversity conservation and governance, and form a working pattern of linkage and joint management in accordance with the working mechanism of overall planning by the central government, overall responsibility of provinces, and implementation by cities and counties. Deepen the coordination between the central and local governments, go hand in hand, and continuously consolidate the capacity of biodiversity governance, so as to provide strong support for accelerating the construction of an ecological civilization and a beautiful China, and promoting the harmonious coexistence of man and nature.
Strengthen top-level design to solve key and difficult problems in biodiversity conservation. Focusing on the new situation and new needs of biodiversity conservation, systematic planning, overall deployment, strengthening the strong and making up for the weak, and making precise efforts, we will strive to solve the key "bottleneck" problems in biodiversity conservation in China, and effectively respond to the key and difficult problems of biodiversity. Accelerate the establishment of the rule of law for biodiversity conservation, improve biodiversity conservation policies and institutional systems, and encourage all localities to introduce corresponding local laws and policies on biodiversity conservation in accordance with local conditions. The Implementation Plan for Major Projects for Biodiversity Conservation has been issued to encourage and guide all localities to formulate and update biodiversity conservation strategies and action plans and implementation plans for major biodiversity conservation projects, clarify the goals, tasks and division of responsibilities for biodiversity conservation at the provincial, municipal and county levels, and enhance consistency with national goals and actions.
We should do a good job in evaluating the effectiveness and improve the ability to supervise and manage biodiversity conservation. Establish a long-term mechanism for biodiversity investigation and monitoring, improve the technical standard system for investigation and monitoring, improve the level of standardization and standardization, and consolidate the foundation of regulatory data. Improve biodiversity monitoring networks, include biodiversity in ecological quality monitoring, and compile or update relevant directories in a timely manner based on the results of investigation and monitoring. Integrate and establish a multi-party cooperative investigation and monitoring system, and fully mobilize social forces and capital to participate in the investigation and monitoring work. Conduct regular assessments of important ecosystems, key species and important genetic resources, and regularly publish comprehensive biodiversity assessment reports to identify problems and shortcomings, and promote the improvement of the quality and efficiency of biodiversity conservation. Promote the integration and sharing of biodiversity regulatory data, promote cross-departmental, cross-regional, and cross-level data aggregation and integration, promote the upload and integration of social biodiversity data resources, and orderly promote data sharing on the premise of ensuring information security.
Strengthen exploration and practice, and open up the path from theory to practice in biodiversity conservation. Carry out research on biodiversity restoration models and technologies, select typical areas to carry out pilot construction of biodiversity restoration, and form a series of typical cases that can be promoted and replicated. Biodiversity should be included in the performance evaluation system of ecological engineering, and the efficiency of ecological engineering biodiversity governance should be improved. Explore and carry out biodiversity impact assessments, and promote the inclusion of biodiversity in the supervision of the whole process of large-scale project construction. Carry out research on the sustainable use of biodiversity, support areas with the capacity to carry out pilot demonstrations, innovate access to biological genetic resources and benefit-sharing models, and set a model for realizing the value of biodiversity. Promote the governance of urban biodiversity, explore effective models and beneficial experiences, and create a model for the construction of biodiversity-friendly cities.
Innovate policy tools and build diversified investment and financing mechanisms for biodiversity conservation. Strengthen the overall planning and allocation of financial resources at all levels, and give key support to biodiversity conservation as needed. Mobilize the enthusiasm of all kinds of financial institutions, give full play to the role of government guidance funds in regulation and control, guide social capital to participate in biodiversity conservation and restoration, and actively strive for international financial support. Deepen the payment mechanism for ecosystem services, explore the establishment of a market-oriented compensation mechanism for biodiversity conservation and restoration, improve the benefit-sharing mechanism for biological genetic resources, and promote the trade, mortgage and realization of ecological products. Promote the inclusion of biodiversity projects in the reserve of ecological and environmental protection financial support projects. Fully integrate the monetary policy tools of carbon emission reduction, and optimize the co-benefits and synergies of biodiversity and climate investment and financing.
Drive knowledge dissemination and stimulate the enthusiasm of the whole people for biodiversity conservation. Fully rely on the existing natural history museums, botanical and botanical gardens, germplasm resource banks, etc., to promote the formation of China's biodiversity museum system, and support the construction of local biodiversity exhibition centers and museums. Accelerate the cataloguing and compilation of biological species resources, biological genetic resources and biodiversity-related traditional knowledge, support the construction of biodiversity disciplines and personnel training, and publish a number of popular science education books on biodiversity. Carry out demonstration of the construction of biodiversity-friendly cities, theme cultural parks, experience sites and nature education bases, build an online publicity and education system composed of digital museums, online exhibitions, and cloud classrooms, develop cultural and creative products with distinctive local biodiversity characteristics, strengthen the cultural self-confidence of biodiversity, and promote biodiversity conservation as a conscious action of the whole people.
(The author is Zhang Yujun, Director of the Department of Nature and Ecology Conservation, Ministry of Ecology and Environment)