Birds roost in the Futian mangrove wetland in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, Feb. 1, 2019。Photo by Liang Xu/Xinhua News Agency

February 2 marks the 27th World Wetlands Day。The reporter learned from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration that China has added 18 internationally important wetlands, including Beijing Yanqing Yeya Lake, Heilongjiang Da Hinggan Mountains nine curves 18 bay, Jiangsu Huaian White Horse Lake, a total of 82;Its area is 7.647 million hectares, ranking fourth in the world。

The theme of this year's World Wetlands Day is "Wetland Restoration".。On the same day, China held a home publicity event in Xixi, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, and released the results of the monitoring of the ecological status of China's internationally important wetlands in 2022。The results showed that the ecological status of internationally important wetlands in China remained stable on the whole, the total area of wetlands increased compared with the previous year, the water quality showed a good trend, and the water supply status remained stable。The richness of biodiversity has increased, and 2391 species of wetland plants are distributed。Wetland conservation and restoration have achieved remarkable results, and degraded wetlands in Heilongjiang, Hubei, Shandong and Hainan have been effectively restored。

Since joining the Convention on Wetlands in 1992，China is actively responding to global challenges such as the reduction of wetland area and the degradation of ecological functions，The 13th Five-Year Plan period，The central government will invest 9.87 billion yuan，53 wetland protection and restoration projects were carried out，There are more than 2,000 subsidy projects for wetland ecological benefits compensation, returning farmland to wet land, and wetland protection and restoration，467,400 hectares of degraded wetlands have been restored，202,600 hectares of wetlands were added。Last year, the Wetland Protection Law of the People's Republic of China was implemented, and China's wetland protection entered a new stage of legalization, promoting the implementation of the outcomes of the 14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Wetlands, and preparing to build an "International Mangrove Center" in Shenzhen.。

As an important participant, contributor and leader in global wetland conservation and restoration, China will actively fulfill its obligations under the Convention, continue to strengthen the protection of the authenticity and integrity of wetlands, implement a national wetland protection plan and major wetland protection projects, incorporate more important wetlands into the management of protected nature areas, and improve international exchange and cooperation platforms。

At the event, the representatives of the National Wetland Park that passed the pilot acceptance in 2022 were awarded a license, and the youth representatives read out the proposal for wetland protection。The event was hosted by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the People's Government of Zhejiang Province. More than 100 heads of forestry and grassland departments from relevant provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), diplomatic envoys from countries Standing Committee of the Convention on Wetlands and representatives of domestic and foreign ngos participated in the event。