What is the plan for the eight ministries to implement the wetland protection and restoration system?

Drainage and reclamation once reduced the area of Napahai wetland in Shangri-La, Yunnan, and after restoration and protection, the area was restored to 2083 hectares.

At present, there are 804 million mu of wetlands in China, including 700 million mu of natural wetlands, and the wetland protection rate is 46.98%. A wetland protection system with wetland nature reserves as the main body has taken shape. However, the intensity of wetland utilization is much higher than other ecosystems, and the degree of threat and protection pressure are greater.

Eight ministries and commissions, including the State Forestry Administration and the National Development and Reform Commission, recently issued documents calling for the implementation of wetland protection and restoration system planning. What is the current situation of wetland protection in China, what problems are faced, and how to do a good job in wetland protection? The reporter interviewed the heads of relevant departments and experts.

The quality of wetland resources is acceptable, but the utilization intensity is much higher than other ecosystems.

Wetlands, called "kidney of the earth", refer to natural or man-made shallow water areas with static or flowing water bodies, and also include waters with water depth less than 6m at low tide, including lakes, swamps and beaches. Its most obvious sign is the existence of water.

The person in charge of the Wetland Protection Management Center of the State Forestry Administration introduced that China's wetland resources are large in total, widely distributed and rich in biodiversity. According to the second national survey of wetland resources, the total wetland area in China is 53,602,600 hectares (804 million mu), of which the natural wetland area is 46,674,700 hectares (about 700 million mu). By the end of last year, there were 49 internationally important wetlands and 602 wetland nature reserves in China, with a wetland protection rate of 46.98%, initially forming a wetland protection system with wetland nature reserves as the main body.

The wetland ecosystem in China is fragile and threatened, and it faces great protection pressure. The second national survey of wetland resources shows that the wetland rate in China is only 5.58%, which is far lower than the world average of 8.60% and 1/5 of the world average wetland area. Although the quality of wetland resources is acceptable, many natural wetlands have been transformed into constructed wetlands, and the utilization intensity of wetlands is much higher than other ecosystems.

In February last year, 65438, the State Council issued the Scheme of Wetland Protection and Restoration System, which put forward the principle of adhering to comprehensive protection and hierarchical management. "comprehensive" is reflected in the following aspects: (1) bringing all wetlands in the country into the scope of protection; Take the wetland ecosystem as a whole and promote the protection and restoration of wetlands as a whole; Classified management, take the strictest protection measures for important wetlands. It is generally allowed to make rational use of wetlands under the premise of protection, but of course this use should be within the carrying capacity of wetland ecosystem and cannot change the nature of wetlands.

Among the three major ecosystems, only wetlands are not protected by special laws and regulations.

The second national survey of wetland resources shows that wetlands are mainly affected by pollution, reclamation, infrastructure occupation, overgrazing, overfishing and collection, and invasion of alien species. Among them, pollution is in a high-incidence situation, affecting the area and destroying the most. Pollution leads to the degradation of wetland ecological function. The population of some wetland species has decreased obviously, and some wetland species are even on the verge of extinction.

According to industry experts, in addition to natural factors such as climate change, human activities and changing the use of wetlands are the main reasons for the significant reduction of wetland area in China, and reclamation and infrastructure occupation are the most critical factors.

The person in charge said that the trend of wetland loss and destruction in China has not been effectively curbed. Maintaining the total amount of wetlands is an urgent task for wetland protection. Therefore, the "Program" proposes that by 2020, the total control target of the national wetland area of not less than 800 million mu will be achieved.

Wetland protection is still a new thing in China. According to the survey statistics, only 25% of the public in China know something about wetlands. This misunderstanding exists not only at the public level, but also at the decision-making level of local governments. The relationship between wetland protection and utilization has deteriorated, and some places even plundered wetlands, causing irreparable losses.

"Among the three ecosystems of forest, ocean and wetland, only the wetland ecosystem has no special laws and regulations to protect it." The person in charge said that wetlands have no legal status, belong to unused land in land classification, and often become occupied objects. Reclamation and engineering construction occupy wetlands without examination and approval procedures, destroy wetlands without punishment basis, and the protection work is passive.

Reasonable delineation of ecological protection red line, to ensure that the national wetland area of not less than 800 million mu of total control targets.

How to implement the "Planning" and achieve the total control goal of the national wetland area of not less than 800 million mu?

"It is necessary to decompose and implement the wetland area control target step by step, rationally delimit the scope of wetlands included in the red line of ecological protection, and implement it in specific wetland plots." Zhang said, a professor at Beijing Forestry University, "Wetlands listed in the red line of ecological protection should be the most valuable and urgent spatial areas in the wetland ecosystem."

Experts suggest that according to the results of the second national survey of wetland resources, from the perspective of operability and landing, the State Forestry Administration and relevant departments should reasonably delimit the scope of wetlands included in the ecological red line, and the local government should be responsible for delimiting the wetlands included in the ecological protection red line. The wetlands should be implemented on specific plots. According to the importance of wetlands included in the protection red line, the management responsibilities of governments at all levels are clarified and the strictest wetland protection measures are implemented.

"It is necessary to strengthen the use control of wetlands within the red line of ecological protection," Zhang said, and set the intensity and time limit of wetland-related resources reasonably. According to the main function orientation, determine the functions that are included in the red line of wetland protection, and implement negative list management. Approved collection, occupation of wetlands and converted to other uses, land units to achieve "first occupation and then compensation, occupation and compensation balance", to ensure that the wetland area is not reduced. In addition, we should regularly carry out wetland investigation and monitoring to grasp the dynamic changes of wetlands in time and provide basic data support for more effective management.

The relevant person in charge of the State Forestry Administration said that it is necessary to translate the relevant requirements of the "Program" into practical policy measures and institutional measures. Such as: speeding up wetland legislation and realizing the rule of law; Implement wetland area control objectives step by step, promote the establishment of corresponding assessment and reward mechanisms, and mobilize the enthusiasm of local governments at all levels to protect wetlands; Delineate the scope of wetlands included in the red line of ecological protection as soon as possible and implement the most stringent control measures; Implement major projects for wetland protection and restoration to improve the overall function of wetland ecosystem.