China has set targets for biodiversity conservation in the "14th Five-Year Plan" Forestry and Grassland Protection and Development Plan released recently by the National Forestry and Grass Administration.
According to the "14th Five-Year" forestry and grassland protection and development plan, by 2025, China will report 24.1% of forest coverage, 19 billion cubic meters of forest accumulation, 57% of integrated grassland vegetation, and 55% of wetland protection.
The area of nature reserves will account for more than 18% of the land area, and 100 million mu of desertified land will be treated.
During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China will carry out special surveys of species and implement rescue protection of 48 critically endangered wild animals and their habitats, including giant pandas, Asian elephants, Hainan gibbons, and Siberian tigers by marking off important habitats for strict protection, connect ecological corridors, and increase the area of important habitats by 10%.
China will also build a monitoring and evaluation system for wild animals and their habitats and bird migration routes, set up protection stations on bird migration routes, and carry out bird banding and volunteer flight escorts by optimizing the layout of ambulance agencies and improving the level of shelter and ambulance facilities.
The central government will support the construction of breeding bases for rare and endangered wild animals and gene banks for genetic resources, and carry out the reintroduction of 15 rare and endangered wild animals, including giant pandas, wild horses, and elk.
In order to prevent and reduce the risk of harm to wild animals such as Asian elephants, bears, and wild boars, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration will carry out a plan to implement control on wild animals that have large populations in some areas and seriously affect the normal production and life of the people on the basis of scientific assessment.
China will also carry out rescue protection of 50 species of extremely small populations of wild plants, and carry out field regression experiments on species of extremely small populations with clear pedigrees and rich diversity.
For 100 species of plants with extremely narrow distribution, sparse populations or severe habitat destruction, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration will carry out conservation and minimum artificial population retention.
China will also improve 35 research centers for the expansion and ex situ conservation of rare and endangered wild plants, and build a national key protected and extremely small population wild plant germplasm resource bank.
In the meantime, the State Council has approved a plan to establish a national botanical garden in China’s capital Beijing, according to an official reply released on Jan 4.
To be jointly built by the National Forestry and Grass Administration, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences and government of Beijing, the national botanical garden will showcase harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, respect nature by putting conservation first and share benefits.
The plan underlines the ex-situ protection of plants and systematic collection, preservation, high-level research and sustainable utilization of plant groups while giving full play to its multiple functions.
