Can National Parks be the "Noah's Ark" for the Survival of Native Species? Advice on National Parks Law of the People's Republic of China (Draft) | Policy Advisory
In September 2024, the National Parks Law of the People's Republic of China (Draft) was released for public consultation. The China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) responded positively, and after careful study, found that, unfortunately, the current provisions do not contain specific provisions for species-level protection, especially for native species.
"Species" are the cornerstone of the ecosystem, and their existence and reproduction are crucial to the stability and function of the entire ecosystem. However, as the scope of human activities continues to expand, biodiversity is facing unprecedented threats, and many native species have disappeared or are on the verge of extinction in their native range. It would undoubtedly be a pity for the legal design if the national park, as a vast and less disturbed nature reserve, could not assume the responsibility of protecting local traditional species and their germplasm resources.
As the core of the nature reserve system, national parks are tasked with maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the ecosystem. Its vast area, rich ecological resources and less interference from human activities provide unique conditions for biodiversity conservation. Therefore, national parks should not only protect large-scale natural ecosystems, but also focus on the protection of endangered native species at the micro level. Although these species may be relocated and protected in some zoos or botanical gardens, in situ conservation has greater advantages in maintaining ecological relationships, restoring natural reproduction and adapting to the environment. National parks, which are the closest natural environments to the species' native range, should be prioritized as core areas for salvage species conservation.
Don't let germplasm resource conservation become only the responsibility of gene banks and doomsday seed banks.
National parks should take up this responsibility —— let it play the function of biodiversity "refuge"(sanctuary), "Noah's Ark".
Considering the irreplaceability of local species and the complexity of ecosystem linkages, it's believed that the legal scope of protection of national parks should be further expanded from the current “ecosystem” level to the level of specific species. National parks have the natural advantage of protecting local traditional species, especially those species that used to be distributed in the local history but gradually disappeared due to human activities or other factors. Rescue conservation of these species through national parks, which are vast, natural habitats, not only restores their wild populations, but also maintains their genetic diversity and ecological relationships.
In order to effectively respond to the biodiversity crisis, the national parks law should explicitly state that national parks bear an inescapable responsibility for the conservation of local traditional species. It is recommended that legal provisions should ensure that local governments and national park authorities are jointly involved in the survey, conservation and restoration of native species, especially for those that have disappeared locally but for which there is still hope of recovery. In addition, the law should provide for the establishment of a salvage species conservation mechanism to ensure that species conservation is no longer limited to translocation, but can be prioritized locally to minimize the long-term impacts of species loss on ecosystems.
In conclusion, it is of great practical urgency and legal necessity to include species protection, especially the protection of local traditional species, in the National Parks Law. As an important part of China's ecological civilization construction, national parks should not only undertake the overall protection of ecosystems, but also take up the responsibility of rescuing and restoring native species. This responsibility can not be pushed to the zoo, botanical gardens, gene banks, but should be close to the local or not far away from the local national parks to assume up.
(Note: This article is for reference only, and does not represent the views of the platform. Comments welcome!)
Author: Wang Kunshan
Edited by: Samantha
Contact: v10@cbcgdf.org; +8617319454776
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