Titanium Tuwen 45th Issue
Planning | Titanium Media Content Center
Make | Titanium Media Vision Center
Recently, the National Botanical Garden was officially inaugurated in Beijing, marking another important step in the protection of biodiversity in the mainland.
With its vast land area, complex topography and diverse climate types, China is one of the 12 countries with the richest biodiversity on earth. The unique geographical environment makes the mainland have a variety of ecosystem types such as forests, grasslands, lakes, wetlands, deserts, and oceans, and is also very rich in species resources and genetic resources. At the same time, the mainland's long history, splendid civilization, as well as the common development of multiple nationalities and profound traditional cultural resources, are also important embodiments of rich biodiversity.
It is also difficult to conserve biodiversity resources. On the one hand, economic development has brought damage to the biodiversity resources of the continent; on the other hand, global warming has brought about problems such as melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and frequent occurrences of extreme weather, which have further exacerbated the damage to ecosystems.
The China Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (2011-2030) points out that the mainland is also one of the countries with the most threatened biodiversity, and the biodiversity of the mainland is mainly facing the degradation of some ecosystem functions, the intensification of species endangerment, and the loss and loss of genetic resources.
At the same time, the epidemic has swept the world and the virus has spread, allowing us to re-examine the relationship between man and nature. According to the Survey Report on Public Biodiversity Perception in China, the Chinese public's awareness of biodiversity conservation is insufficient, and compared with environmental protection and pollution control issues such as air pollution, water pollution and garbage, the respondents' awareness of "biodiversity" is the lowest among common natural and environmental issues.
Raising public awareness of nature conservation must be based on scientific understanding. The new issue of Titanium Media Titanium Tudu Tuwen, a map to sort out the abundance of China's biological categories, review China's biodiversity conservation achievements, and what can we do for our living environment as individuals?
The known species in China are increasing, and the conservation of biodiversity has achieved remarkable results
As one of the first Parties to sign and ratify the Convention on Biological Diversity, China has always attached great importance to biodiversity conservation and has achieved remarkable results.
China is the only country that publishes a list of biological species every year. In the first edition of the 2008 Catalogue of Biological Species of China, a total of 49,000 species were included, including more than 10,000 species, mainly vertebrates such as animals, birds, fish, invertebrates and insects, as well as more than 30,000 species of plants, as well as a small number of microorganisms.
Over the next 12 years, new species were added to the list. The List of Biological Species of China (2021 Edition), published in 2021, contains 115,000 biological species. In 2020 alone, more than 2,400 new species were discovered on the mainland, accounting for more than 10% of the total number of newly discovered species worldwide.
While the known species of the continent are increasing, many scarce species "have children" and re-expand their own populations. In 2021, the Information Office of the State Council released the white paper "Biodiversity Conservation in China", which showed surprising data: with the rapid and high-quality growth of the number of artificially bred giant pandas, the number of wild pandas has increased from 1114 to 1864 in 40 years, and the level of threat of giant pandas has been reduced from "endangered" to "vulnerable", achieving large-scale wild release and successful integration into wild populations.
Not only that, along with the giant pandas, there are also Tibetan antelopes, "Oriental Gems" crested ibises, and elk that once briefly "disappeared" in the wild...
In addition, the state's emphasis on the protection of biodiversity has been continuously increased, and the amount of environmental public welfare donations has increased year by year. According to the "China Biodiversity Public Welfare Funding White Paper (2021)", in the past five years, the total amount of environmental public welfare donations in the mainland reached 2.523 billion yuan, of which 1.757 billion yuan was used for biodiversity-related funding, accounting for 69%, which is much higher than the funding in the fields of pollution prevention, energy and climate change.
Public welfare donations for biodiversity conservation have also maintained a rapid growth rate, with growth rates of 21%, 35%, 43% and 29% from 2016 to 2020, respectively.
Public awareness of biodiversity conservation is insufficient
To increase the public's enthusiasm for participating in nature conservation, it is necessary to enhance the scientific awareness and understanding of the public. According to the China Public Biodiversity Awareness Survey Report, 91% of the 3,000 respondents have heard of the term "biodiversity", but most respondents are vague about the concept of biodiversity, with only 34% of the public saying they know its meaning.
Compared with environmental protection and pollution control issues such as air pollution, water pollution, and garbage, respondents' awareness of "biodiversity" was the lowest among common natural and environmental issues. Respondents generally have a "close to nature" attitude, agreeing that the conservation of biodiversity is an important need at present, and it is also for the benefit of future generations. And there is a positive and optimistic attitude towards the future improvement of biodiversity. However, the vast majority of respondents still believe that the leaders and deep participants in the conservation of "biodiversity" are still the government (85%), and they are only cooperative participants.
Start with "me" to protect biodiversity
Everyone affects the ecological operation of the world more or less, and domestic garbage, travel emissions, eating habits, and daily products also affect the degree of biodiversity. This also means that we can start from the details of life and make efforts and contributions to the development of biodiversity.
Data source: Titanium Media Science Stock Treasure, Past Years "China Biological Species List", "China Biodiversity Conservation White Paper 2021" State Council, "China Biodiversity Red List" Chinese Academy of Sciences - Ministry of Environmental Protection, "2020 Earth Vitality Report" World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), "China Environment News" related article reports, "China Public Biodiversity Awareness Survey Report", "China Biodiversity Public Welfare Funding White Paper (2021)", Yishan Data