Desert wetlands in Korla, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (PHOTO: VCG)

By ZHONG Jianli

Wetlands, known as "Earth's kidneys," are important natural resources with unique ecological functions such as flood regulation, water purification, carbon storage and fixation, and climate regulation. In many cases, wetlands are the habitats of wild animals and plants, thus forming a rich gene pool of species.

To strengthen efforts in conservation of wetlands, China's first Wetland Protection Law came into force on June 1, 2022. The law stipulates the top-level design of wetland protection and management work, marking a new stage of law-based wetland protection in the country.

"The enactment and implementation of the law is an important result we achieved under the guidance of President Xi Jinping's Thought on Ecological Civilization, and is a strategic measure to safeguard ecological security and biodiversity," said Guan Zhiou, director general of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA).

In the past decades, China has made progress in wetland protection and established a general wetland protection and management system. There are now 64 internationally important wetlands, 29 nationally important wetlands, more than 600 wetland nature reserves, and 1,600 wetland parks, with the protection rate of wetlands increasing to about 50 percent.

In 2019, China won the bid to host the 14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Wetlands, which is scheduled to be held in November 2022 in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province.

"The implementation of the law will play an important role in China's efforts to fully implement the Convention, participate in and lead international wetland protection, and demonstrate China's commitment to building a community with a shared future for mankind," said Bao Daming, deputy director of NFGA's Wetland Management Department.

According to the law, China is expected to exercise the conservation of wetlands at different levels, and wetlands will be categorized into different classes for protection. Rivers and lakes, coastal wetlands, urban wetlands, mangrove wetlands, and swamp wetlands will be subject to different restoration requirements.

In addition, the wetland investigation and evaluation system, wetland total area control system, and wetland dynamic monitoring system are also incorporated into the law.

Another highlight of the law is that it intensifies penalties for wetland damage, including reclamation of wetlands, overharvesting of wild plants and fishes, and mining or collecting soil from wetlands without authorization.

It is expected that the protection rate of wetlands in China will increase to 55 percent by the end of 2025, and one million mu (1 mu = 666.67㎡) of wetlands will be restored, according to Bao.