CHEN Xuechu: Congratulations on the Successful Convening of CBCGDF Symposium on Promoting the China National Strategic Action Plan for Biodiversity Conservation

On March 29, 2024, the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) hosted the first symposium on "Promoting the National Strategic Action Plan for Biodiversity Conservation " in Beijing. A total of 32 speakers, including 92 participants from government departments, enterprises, NGOs, academia, indigenous peoples and local communities, and youth representatives, attended the event, with over a hundred people actively responding and signing the Peoples Participation Movements initiative. 

 

Prof. CHEN Xuechu from East China Normal University participated in the meeting, who in the past 10 years has had the opportunity to lead his students to participate in wetland restoration and related biodiversity conservation in rural areas of Shanghai. He shared some of his thoughts as follows: 

 

Shanghai is a city built on wetlands. Since ancient times, humans have transformed and appropriately utilized wetlands in the Yangtze River estuary and Jiangnan water towns, forming an artificial wetland system full of ecological wisdom, shaping the landscape and improving ecological functions. According to United Nations statistics, 1 billion people around the world still rely on wetlands for their livelihood. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands advocates "wise use" and promotes the sustainable use of wetlands without damaging the wetland ecosystem, based on which we promote the construction of ecological wetlands with composite functions in Shanghai's suburban areas.

 

However, in practice we have also found that wetland-based biodiversity conservation faces many challenges. If the primary purpose of wetlands is "biodiversity conservation", then surrounding human activities are often subject to strict restrictions, which is quite difficult for metropolitan areas with relatively tight production and living space. Therefore, I suggest that in the core areas of metropolitan areas and rural areas, we should learn from the ecological wisdom of the ancient Chinese and find ways to take into account both human use and biodiversity protection.

 

I noticed that the "National Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (2023-2030) " issued recently strongly advocates the practice of OECMs, which is very important for a metropolis like Shanghai with limited space resources but high ambitions for biodiversity conservation. It is undoubtedly a promising solution. But I also appeal that to promote the implementation of OECMs and achieve the benefit of wetlands, supporting policies need to be followed up. In terms of specific operations, an urban biodiversity conservation fund can be established to support communities and enterprises in jointly protecting and utilizing OECMs areas and wetlands, and on this basis, a biodiversity experience center can be built.

 

Original Chinese Article: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/kGOQ2H6H0eaKun-LlAlsww

Translator: Sara

Checked by: Daisy

Editor: Sara    

Contact: v10@cbcgdf.org; +8617319454776

 

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