From the establishment of the first group of natural reserves in
Zhaoqing of Guangdong Province in 1956 to the formal kick-off of
the nationwide project for wildlife protection and natural reserves
construction in December 2001, China has made immense achievements
in natural reserve development and ecological protection. As an
illustration, the following is a review of some developments in
China's forestry reserves.
Forests, wetlands，flora and fauna are some of the
earth's most precious things bestowed by nature. During the past
half-century, China has been working hard to maintain ecological
safety and balance in order to protect resources for sustainable
development and preserve bio-diversity through establishing natural
reserves and taking protective measures.
When people take natural resources to satisfy their demands for
living and development, they are creating unavoidable obligations
to maintain eco-balance and bio-diversity so that coming
generations will have a clean earth. Establishing nature reserves
in representative areas with abundant ecological species has proved
an effective way for ecological preservation and
counter-protection.
It
is self-evident that China has a great responsibility and arduous
task with respect to preserving its eco-system and bio-diversity as
it has such a vast territory and is home to over 30,000 species of
plants and 2,200 vertebrata.
The following statistics reflect sustained efforts made by the
Chinese government, especially forestry authorities at different
levels, to construct its natural reserves.
At
the end of 2002, China established 1,757 natural reserves with
various functions, covering a total of 133 million hectares, or
13.2 percent of the state territory, having reached the levels of
advanced countries. Of these, 1,405 are forestry reserves with a
total acreage of 109 million hectares, accounting for 82 percent of
area and 80 percent of the whole natural reserves; state-level
forestry reserves (greater ecological impact and importance) amount
to 142, accounting for 72 percent of the total nationwide
state-level natural reserves.
China is a developing country, and the most populous country in the
world. The contradictions between improving living standards and
protecting the environment have not yet been solved fundamentally
in China. When looking back, from the establishment of the first
batch of natural reserves in Zhaoqing of Guangdong Province in 1956
to nationwide wildlife protection, it's not difficult to hear the
powerful footsteps of the Chinese government building its
eco-environment in order to sustain economic development.
So
far, the Chinese forestry department has established a
comprehensive protective network, playing the following multiple
roles in ecological preservation:
-
- Protecting the national ecological system and environment, this
has promoted productive forces. Forestry eco-systems, wetland
eco-systems, desert eco-systems, major wildlife distribution
districts, and districts rich in bio-species have effectively
protected 85 percent of China's terrestrial eco-system types, 85
percent of its wild animal population and 65 percent of its wild
plant community and at the same time protecting habitats of rare
and endangered wild animals providing a stable environmental
guarantee for economic and social development.
-
- Protecting China's animal and plant resource and guaranteeing
state economic and social development demands and people's
long-term interests. Natural reserves are a place with abundant
wildlife resources and are regarded as a natural wildlife gene
bank. Habitats for over 300 of the most endangered wild animals
including giant pandas, golden-monkeys, Chinese alligators, tigers,
David's deer (milu) and distribution ranges of over 130 rare
plant species including Chinese yew (Taxus chinensis), Abies
Beshanzuensis, sago palm (Cycas revolute) have all been well
protected. It has laid a foundation for further cultivating and
protecting resources as well as meeting the needs of economic
development. Especially with the development of modern science and
technology, research on wildlife gene pools is of strategic value
to the development of life and biological science as well as to the
exploration of new resources, energy and materials.
-
- Promoting harmonious relationships between human beings and
nature, developing ideas of sustainable development, and satisfying
people's increasing desire for spiritual civilization. Functions of
nature reserves have a full range, with some becoming important
bases for carrying out eco-environment education, promoting ideas
of humans developing harmoniously with nature, and popularizing
natural science knowledge. Some of them have been set as
educational and scientific research bases for universities and
scientific institutes, and 11 natural reserves have been listed as
Nationwide Popular Science Education Bases.
-
- Building up a good image and winning commendation from the
international community for the Chinese government's achievements
in ecological protection. In 2002, the World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF) handed a "Gift to the
Earth" certificate to the head of China's State Forestry
Administration, Zhou Shengxian, honoring its efforts to protect the
wetlands as well as to build up natural reserves and preserve
ecology.
Up
to now, 21 natural reserves in China have been added to the world
network of "Man and Biosphere Program (MAB)" sponsored by UNESCO;
21 listed as Wetlands of International Importance; 3 listed as
World Natural Heritages, and many set as key areas for the
preservation of global bio-diversity. China is a contracting party
to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
and Ramsar Convention on
Wetlands. Meanwhile, China has signed with the United States,
Japan, Russia, Australia, India and others some natural
conservation bilateral agreements concerning migratory bird
protection, tiger protection and making a greater contribution and
performing its duty to global natural ecology preservation
well.
"As a populous developing country, China, while maintaining high
economic development speed, has established a rather complete
ecological preservation system thanks to the efforts of cadres and
the masses on the nature reserves. This remarkable accomplishment
is China's active contribution to humanity," says Jim Harkness,
chief representative of WWF's China Project, while evaluating
China's undertakings on its nature reserves.
(China.org.cn by Zhang Tingting, May 8, 2003)