US$1.11b to target wetland protection
By Yang Cheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-02 07:15

China will direct 9 billion yuan (US$1.11 billion) into wetland conservation by 2010, covering 50 per cent of the nation's natural wetlands and most key areas, said Zhao Xuemin, deputy director of the State Forestry Administration (SFA).

In remarks made in advance of today's 10th World Wetland Day, Zhao said China would continue to honour its commitment to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and would push international co-operation to a new high.

Signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, the convention is an inter-governmental treaty that provides a framework for both national action and international collaboration on wetland conservation.

There are currently 150 contracting parties to the convention, with 1579 wetland sites totalling 133.9 million hectares designated for inclusion on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

Zhao said China has played an important role in protecting its vast wetlands in the 14 years since it joined the convention.

At 66 million hectares, China's wetlands rank fourth in the world and first in Asia.

Thirty wetlands across the country have been listed as key international wetlands. Only six were included on the list when China became a part of the convention in 1992, Zhao said. The country's efforts have since won worldwide recognition.

Last November, at the ninth general meeting of the convention in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, China was unanimously elected as an executive member of the council. It was the only country that won the seat through a unanimous vote.

The nation has launched a number of campaigns, including a wetland protection work scheme jointly drafted by 17 government bodies and an eight-year national research project.

International co-operation is also a key area, Zhao said. The SFA has initiated and supported a number of international projects on wetland conservation. Global Environment Facilities (GEF) and the Chinese Government have jointly invested US$17.9 million to improve protection of nature reserves. For example, GEF offered US$14 million of this investment to the biological conservation of wetlands.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) also donated US$2 million to help China return farmland to lakes in the Yangtze River basin, according to the SFA.

(China Daily 02/02/2006 page1)