How Protection Law and Global Commitments Can Accelerate China’s Wetland Conservation

The lives on this planet are dependent on the ecosystems. Wetlands are one of the earth’s major ecosystem areas, yet they are shrinking in different parts of the globe. In recent years, efforts have been made to accelerate the conservation effort of China’s wetland areas through protection law and global commitments.

China’s wetland areas

Wetland is a complex ecosystem that is formed through interaction between land and body of water. Lakes, swamps, peatlands, and rivers are all included in this category. These areas become one of the keys to ecosystem balance due to their roles in supplying water, preventing floods, housing various biodiversity, and providing socio-economic benefits for people.

China has the fourth largest wetland area in the world, spanning 53.42 million hectares. It is home to more than 4000 species of plants and animals, and has a carbon sink capacity of 1.71 million metric tonnes per year. Unfortunately, between 1950 and 2010, more than 50% of China’s wetland areas had shrunken. Climate change, human activities, and the lack of protective regulations all contributed to the decline of these essential areas. 

China Wetland Protection Law

Recognizing the importance of its wetlands, China signed the Ramsar Convention in 1992. The treaty provides the framework for wetlands conservation and usage. Since then, actions have been carried out to conserve China’s wetland areas, including implementing the National Wetland Conservation Action Plan in 2000. Last year, the country adopted the Wetland Protection Law and became the host of the 14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Wetlands.

The Wetland Protection Law was adopted in December 2021 and implemented effective from 1 June 2022. According to Yang Zhaoxia from Beijing Forestry University, the law aims to help encourage responsible usage of wetlands and ensure healthy and thriving wetland ecosystems, eventually improving China’s economy, social, and environmental conditions. The goals are to increase China’s wetlands protection rate to 55% by 2025 and restore more than 66,000 hectares of wetlands.

The country took its conservation commitment further by hosting the  14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Wetlands in November 2022, where resolutions were adopted to accelerate global wetlands conservation efforts. This showed how the country has taken leadership in wetlands conservation efforts, which can set examples for other countries to step up their game in protecting their important ecosystems.

“It is important that we advance the global process on wetlands conservation, redouble efforts to preserve authenticity and integrity, include more important wetlands in nature reserves, improve cooperation mechanisms and platforms, and increase the coverage of wetlands of international importance,” said Xi Jinping, the President of the People’s Republic of China, during his opening speech.

Editor: Nazalea Kusuma

Kresentia Madina

Reporter at Green Network Asia | Website | + posts

Madina is a Reporter at Green Network Asia. She graduated from Universitas Indonesia with a bachelor's degree in English Literature. She has three years of professional experience in editorial and creative content creation, editing, and research.

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