By LI Linxu

China unveiled its national biodiversity conservation strategy and action plan (2023-30) to promote the effective implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework that urged all countries to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

The plan, issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), is a scientific guide to comprehensively improve the level of biodiversity management in China, said an official from MEE, adding that China is striving to make its contribution to global biodiversity governance, as well as the goals set by the framework.

By 2030, the country is expected to restore at least 30 percent of its degraded terrestrial, inland-water, coastal and marine ecosystems. At least 30 percent of land, inland-water, coastal and marine areas will be effectively protected and managed, according to the plan.

By then, nature reserves, composed mainly of national parks, will account for 18 percent of the country's total land area. The terrestrial ecological red lines will take up 30 percent of the country's total land area at the minimum, while the areas covered by the marine ecological red lines will cover at least 150,000 square kilometers.

Black-faced spoonbills are seen at a wetland park in Danzhou, Hainan province. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

The plan also laid out the long and medium goals and visions for 2035 and 2050 respectively. To achieve these goals, the plan put forward four priority areas: mainstreaming biodiversity, addressing threats to biodiversity loss, sustainable utilization as well as fair and equitable sharing of benefits, and modernizing biodiversity governance.

Under such priority areas, there are a series of priority actions, such as policy planning, ecological space protection, ecosystem restoration, sustainable management of biological resources, sustainable utilization of germplasm resources, smart governance, and international cooperation.

In recent years, China has made significant progress in biodiversity conservation, with improved laws and regulations, as well as rising public awareness of biodiversity conservation.

Now, the country is home to over 135,000 species, including more than 65,000 animal species and over 39,000 plant species.