Terrasse

On April 25th, I participated Roundtable Meeting of CCICED* in Haikou. The provincial party head Feng Fei, Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment Mr. Zhao Yingmin, and Mdm Mrema of UNEP delivered opening speeches.

Almost all renowned organizations were present. Since I am now a core expert in the Special Policy Study group in the “Biodiversity Conservation and Implementation of Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM GBF)”, I represented on behalf of WWF.

I made two interventions to introduce our achievements and thinking behind them.

In the first intervention, I recommended our Blue Taxonomy in the session of blue economy. This is a tangible tool and the policy makers need to be aware of its existence. I have been introducing this for months, and I hope this taxonomy can be eventually beneficial to the development of sustainable blue economy in China.

I made my second intervention in the KM GBF session where our old friend Marco facilitated. I introduced our exercise in mapping on 30% of biodiversity hotspot in Yellow Sea Ecoregion. I introduced our efforts in building capacity for financial institutes in fishery. And I called for better fishery subsidy reform in China, and introduced our efforts for financial sectors to improve the fishery finance.

The organizer offered a one-hour excursion to Beigang Village (北港村). It is a small fishery island that did not build its freshwater taps until 2015. We heard the story from China Blue (智渔) on how the local communities managed to survive in typhoon, tides and poverty.

There must be some invisible linkage between Haikou and me. I participated in the only World Wetland Day in Haikou in 2019. I was in the panel for Haikou’s renewal as a wetland city (and I witnessed their accreditation in Dubai). This week I had my first CCICED roundtable in Haikou.

Haikou is a beautiful city, but I never had enough time to well explore.

*CCICED: China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development

The bird migration season is around. I was invited into a live connection in “China 24” in CGTN to talk about it. I briefly introduced China’s conservation efforts on wetlands and migratory birds, as well as thinking of something that cities and residents can do.

Here is what I said:

Q1: How would you assess China’s achievements in conserving migratory birds?

China has implemented various measures and initiatives to protect migratory birds and their habitats.

Migratory birds used to be elusive and still require much study. Dating back to 2003, WWF initiated the first Coordinated Bird Count in Central & Lower Yangtze, where bird watchers counted the wintering birds in a same time in different areas, one of the earliest attempts to get relatively reliable figures. Over the past twenty years, China carried out various ways of monitoring, annually it implements bird ringing for about 100 thousand individuals and installs satellite trackers on more than 100 species. We witness the increase in both geographic scopes and frequency in monitoring. This is the foundation of protection.

Among migratory birds, waterbirds form the largest flocks. They rely on healthy and well-protected wetlands. Now China has more than 2000 protected areas where wetlands can be found. Among them, 82 were designated as Ramsar sites, namely wetlands of international importance. The large number of protected wetlands form a habitat network for migratory birds.

China working along by itself is not enough, as migratory birds do not need visa to travel around. We see China active in regional flyway networks, for example East Asian – Australasian Flyway Partnership, where joint conservation methods are discussed and implemented. China has several bilateral agreements on protecting migratory birds with Japan, Australia, Korea, etc, and there is now a World Heritage along the Coast of Yellow Sea as sanctuaries for Migratory Birds.

Q2: Collective efforts are required for successful conservation of migratory birds. Tell us, how can cities better mobilize the public to be more involved?

Cities and dwellers can take several measures to better protect migratory birds and their habitats.

As these species rely on urban wetlands, ponds, and water bodies as stopover sites, fine management of these areas is crucial. This can include appropriate design on terrains and vegetation, pollution control and water level management. It also benefits human as these habitats reduce heat island effect.

Reducing light pollution is also a typical thing that cities can do. Artificial lighting from buildings and streetlights can dis-orient migratory birds, especially during nocturnal migration. Cities can use amber-colored lights, and families can turn off unnecessary lights. As a mater of fact, this helps reduce some carbon emission too!

Most importantly, I would encourage our audience to walk out and watch birds, as they are the most visible wildlife in cities. Birdwatching, even just staring at birds foraging along urban streams, is a good start in reconnecting to the nature. When residents are more and more aware of the beauty of birds, cities and NGOs can also provide environment education opportunities, so that people may be more curious about the colorful nature.

I believe many of you might eventually find birdwatching very interesting and enjoyable, like me!

The 2024 World Wetland Day was celebrated as usual. I was invited into a live connection in “China 24” in CGTN (China Global Television Network) to introduce the importance of wetlands. It is crucial for people to understand the linkage between wetlands and human beings. Meanwhile, some hot topics should also be touched. And I mentioned mangroves.

Here is what I said:

Q1:Can you explain the significance of wetland conservation and the impact of wetlands on the overall ecological environment?

Wetlands play crucial roles in supporting both the environment and human well-being.
Wetlands are among the most biologically diverse ecosystems on earth. People not only see waterbirds and fish in wetlands, but can also benefit from their rich gene pool, like the hybrid of many crops including rice.
Wetlands are like natural filters, it traps sediments and pollutants from water and helps improve water quality by reducing the levels of nutrients.
Wetlands are our ally in mitigating climate change. They store large amounts of carbon, which help reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
In short, protecting the wetlands will enable human beings to better enjoy their ecosystem services.

Q2:What efforts have been made by various countries and the World Wildlife Fund in wetland conservation, and what challenges do they face? What are the future focal points for wetland conservation initiatives?

Most countries around the world recognize the importance of wetlands:
– Global governance wise, most countries ratified Ramsar Convention, the birthday of which became the World Wetlands Day, namely today. WWF is one of the 6 International Organization Partners for Ramsar Convention. We serve as catalyst among stakeholders to restore and manage wetlands.
– Legislation wise, as the Law of Wetland Protection enacted in 2022, China became a champion in wetland legislation. Some other countries also have similar rules. The US has its “Clean Water Act” and the UK has its “Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981”.
– Many countries also took efforts to restore wetlands. In China, the national and all provincial administrations implemented their wetland restoration projects in the last decade. In Europe, a Living Danube Partnership directly contributed to restore vast area of floodplain. In Australia, there are continuous efforts to save the Great Barrier Reef Coastal, which is also a kind of Wetlands.
– I am proud that my colleagues and myself in the WWF network contributed to all these projects in these countries.

All kinds of wetlands are crucial to life and people, but here let me just highlight one kind for future, mangrove. Mangrove is our secret weapon in combatting climate change. Compared to rainforests at same latitudes, mangroves can sequestrate carbon much faster and thus mitigate the climate change. Meanwhile, it is a typical nature-based solution to safeguard the coastal line, so that communities living there won’t be hurt too much during extreme weather events like storm tides.

China is implementing a large scale mangrove restoration plan. It also established the Shenzhen International Mangrove Centre last year. We would observe and create successful stories with China and share the experience with the world.