China aims to restore Yangtze River’s biodiversity by 2025

Beijing, The Gulf Observer: China’s environmental protection authority said on Monday that the country will take specific actions to combat water pollution and restore the biodiversity of Yangtze, the longest river in China, by 2025.

The announcement was made during a press conference in Beijing as a new action plant to protect Yangtze was issued on September 8 by 17 government departments including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

According to the ministry, the action plan involves technological and law enforcement measures in water pollution control and ecological restoration by 11 provinces and cities on the Yangtze River Economic Belt as well as relevant county-level administrative regions covered by the mainstream, tributaries and lakes of the Yangtze River.

In order to restore the fragile biodiversity of the Yangtze River, a 10-year fishing ban has been implemented since 2020, followed by various restoration projects. In this newly issued plan, more efforts are called to improve the monitoring system for aquatic wildlife in the Yangtze River.

The action plan proposes to strengthen the protection and restoration of key habitats for rare species and minimize the impact of fishery projects to the environment so that biodiversity can be recovered. To protect important species such as panda and cranes, the action plan looks to build more national parks and establish a sound system of protected natural areas which provide sanctuaries for flora and fauna.

The plan also provides for ensuring employment for the fishermen affected by the ban, guaranteeing the no-fishing policy to bring back lost aquatic resources.

The plan also proposes to extend the forest coverage and return farmlands to forests and grasslands based on scientific assessment. By 2025, about 75,000 hectares of desertified land shall be restored, and 1 million hectares of land recovered from rocky desertification.

The plan pledges law enforcement efforts to control illegal exploitation of the river, including sand mining, dock construction, garbage dumping, sewage discharging, etc. to clean the Yangtze as well as its major tributaries and lakes. Other water quality issues such as toxic algae bloom and heavy metal pollution are also included in the action plan.