TouristsgoboatingonawetlandscenicspotinWenzhou,eastChina"sZhejiangprovince,Jan.6,2023.(People"sDailyOnline/LiuJili)

Theshrinkingareaofwetlandsanddegradingecologicalfunctionsareachallengefacedbytheentireworld.

SincebecomingapartyoftheConventiononWetlandsofInternationalImportanceEspeciallyasWaterfowlHabitat,ortheRamsarConventionin1992,Chinahasconstantlyenhanceditseffortsinlegislation,monitoring,sciencepopularization,andinternationalcooperationtofulfillitsobligations.

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China"swetlandconservationhasgonethroughthreestages:problemidentification,rescueprotection,andcomprehensiveconservation.

Sofar,thecountryhascompletedover4,100projectstoadvancewetlandprotectionandrestoration.Itistheonlycountryintheworldthathasdonenationalwetlandresourceinvestigationthreetimes.

Chinaboastsremarkableachievementsinwetlandconservation.Wetlandecologyisconstantlyimprovinginthecountry.

Itswetlandarea,covering56.35millionhectares,ranksthefirstinAsiaandfourthintheworld.Especiallyintherecentdecade,Chinahasaddedorrestoredmorethan800,000hectaresofwetlands.Italsohas64wetlandsofinternationalimportanceand29wetlandsofnationalimportance.Thecountryishometo13internationalwetlandcities,thehighestintheworld.

Thetotalnumberofwetland-typenaturereservesinChinahasreachedmorethan2,200,while11millionhectaresofwetlandsareincludedinthecountry"snationalparksystemwithstringentprotectionmanagement.

PhototakenonJan.30,2023showsawetlandparkinHuaibei,eastChina"sAnhuiprovince.(People"sDailyOnline/WangWen)

Wetlandparkswellcombineecologicalconservation,ecologicaltourism,andenvironmentaleducationandthusgenerateecological,social,andeconomicbenefits.TheyareanimportantpartofChina"swetlandconservationsystem.

Chineseprovincesandmunicipalitiesareconstantlyworkingtoapplyfornationalwetlandparksandbuildregionalwetlandparks,demonstratingChina"sinnovativeapproachtoprotecting,restoring,andutilizingwetland.

Currently,thereare29nationalwetlandparksand26provincialwetlandparksinSichuanprovince,andeastChina"sAnhuiprovincehaspreliminarilyestablishedawetlandconservationnetworkthatputs51.8percentofitswetlandsunderprotection.

Hangzhou,capitalofeastChina"sZhejiangprovince,isapplyingforthewetlandcityaccreditationoftheRamsarConvention,andaprovincial-levelwetlandparkisexpectedtobebuiltneartheQiantangRiverinthecity.ItislearnedthatthecoverageofthewetlandparkwillbefarbeyondthatoftheXixiNationalWetlandParkinthecity,whichspans11.5squarekilometers.

Overthepastfewyears,Chinahaswitnessedaprominentincreaseinthepopulationofwildbirdsinwetlands.Rareandendangeredbirdspecieshavestartedtoshowupinwetlandsacrossthecountryandinhabitinlargegroupsthere.Thisindicatesimprovedwetlandecologyinthecountry.

TheYellowRiverWetlandNationalNatureReserveinZhengzhou,centralChina"sHenanprovince,sitsinthecenterofthemiddlechannelofChina"sthreemajorbirdmigrationroutes.Afteryearsoftreatment,theecologyinthenaturereservehasconstantlyimproved.Therearecurrently283wildbirdspeciesinthereserve,upfrom169in2006.

SurveysonwinteringbirdsrecentlyreleasedbylocalauthoritiessuggestedimportantprogressinChina"secologicalrestoration.

SwansspendwinterinawetlandparkinRizhao,eastChina"sShandongprovince,Jan.29,2023.(People"sDailyOnline/WangYiquan)

AccordingtoareportbysouthChina"sHainanprovince,theislandprovincediscovered201black-facedspoonbillsthisyear,themostsincethereportstartedin2003.

AnothersurveyonwinteringbirdsintheHengshuiLakenationalnaturereservewetlandparkinnorthChina"sHebeiprovincesaid64,000birdsand60specieswerespottedinthewetlandpark.

WhileimplementingtheRamsarConventionandprotectingwetlands,Chinahasexploredapathofecologicalconservationformanandnaturetoliveinharmony.

InOctober2022,theNationalForestryandGrasslandAdministrationandtheMinistryofNaturalResourcesjointlyreleasedaplanforwetlandprotectionforthe2022-2030period.

TheplanaimstoincreaseChina"swetlandprotectionrateto55percentby2025.Accordingtoit,by2030,anewparadigmofhigh-qualitywetlandconservationwillbepreliminarilyestablished,andtheecologicalfunctionsandbiodiversityinwetlandswillbeprominentlyimproved.

Besides,theplanwillalsostrivetoenhancethecomprehensiveservicecapabilityofthewetlandecologysystem,strengthenwetlands"carbonfixationperformance,andbuildabetterlegalframeworkforwetlandprotection.

Chinawillkeeppromotinggreendevelopmentandworkfornewprogressinglobalwetlandconservation.