Recently, fishermen in Siyang County, Suqian, Jiangsu Province, mistakenly released the Florida turtle they caught as a wild turtle (Chinese turtle). Fishermen say the "turtle" is nearly 60 centimeters long and weighs about 16 kilograms, and because of the misidentification of the species, it mistakenly released invasive alien creatures into nature. Faced with this dilemma, the local town government has organized personnel to track the turtle within the water area, hoping to find the turtle as soon as possible.
(Image source: Guangming Network)
As soon as this news came out, many enthusiastic netizens were worried that the released turtles would damage the local ecological environment.
Some readers may wonder, what is the origin of this Florida turtle?
Native to the southern United States, Florida turtles live in freshwater waters such as lakes and rivers; They live by carnivorous food, and usually like to prey on fish and shrimp and various small aquatic creatures. After the Florida turtle was introduced to China, due to its high economic benefits, the scale of breeding expanded rapidly, and the farms spread across 16 provinces and cities across the country.
However, as an invasive alien species, Florida turtles cannot be released at will. There are no natural enemies in the country, so the number of Florida turtles in the region can grow rapidly in a short period of time, which will not only affect the local biodiversity, but also cause serious damage to the local ecological environment.
The prevention and control of biological invasions has never been a trivial matter, and we need to plan to resist species invasions from the institutional level and build a solid Great Wall to protect national food security and ecological security.
(Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs website)
Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the General Administration of Customs jointly issued the Measures for the Management of Invasive Alien Species (hereinafter referred to as the Measures). The Measures, which will come into effect on 1 August this year, provide key guidance for the whole country in the prevention, monitoring and early warning, treatment and restoration of the source of invasive alien species. The promulgation of the Measures not only improves the management system for invasive alien species, but also strengthens the prevention and control of the whole chain nationwide.
What are the details in the Measures that deserve our attention?
l Background of the promulgation of the Measures
The prevention and control of alien species invasion is related to national food security, biosecurity and ecological security. The Biosecurity Law of the People's Republic of China clearly stipulates that "the State shall strengthen the prevention and response to the invasion of alien species and protect biodiversity." The competent department of agriculture and rural affairs under the State Council shall, in conjunction with other relevant departments of the State Council, formulate a list of invasive alien species and management measures."
In recent years, with the increasingly frequent commodity trade and personnel exchanges in the mainland, the diffusion channels of invasive alien species have become more diversified and concealed, and most invasive species can find a suitable living environment on the mainland, and once colonized, it is difficult to completely eradicate them, which seriously affects the ecological environment of the invasion area and damages the sustainable development of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery and biodiversity.
What is an "invasive alien species"?
According to the Measures, invasive alien species refer to species that have no natural distribution in the territory of the People's Republic of China and are introduced by natural or artificial means, including all parts of the species that may survive and reproduce. Such species will bring threats and hazards to the continental ecosystem, habitat, and species, which will not only affect the safety of the continental ecological environment, but also damage the sustainable development of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fisheries and biodiversity. Common invasive alien species include the meadow moth, potato beetle, red fire ant, water hyacinth, fushou snail, alligator eel, ragweed...
(Invasive alien species of protocellfish (crayfish) and ragweed.) Courtesy of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment)
What principles and methods should be followed to prevent invasive alien species?
Principles include risk prevention, source control, comprehensive governance, synergy, and public participation.
This requires policy implementers at all levels to highlight key areas and key links, strengthen joint prevention and control, group prevention and group governance, and comprehensively improve the management level of invasive alien species through improving the management system.
The method is the whole chain of supervision, clarifying the division of responsibilities and guiding public participation.
l Regarding prevention at the source, what are the specific requirements of the Measures?
The "Measures" mainly put forward clear requirements for strengthening prevention at the source from three aspects.
The first is to standardize the management of introduction. Where exotic species such as crop and forest and grass seeds and seedlings, aquatic fry and other alien species are introduced from abroad due to special needs such as variety breeding, import examination and approval and quarantine examination and approval shall be handled in accordance with the scope of examination and approval. If the species is introduced for the first time, the introducing unit shall conduct a risk analysis and submit a risk assessment report to the approval department to ensure that the introduced species will not pose a significant risk to the ecological and environmental safety of the mainland. If the species poses a clear ecological risk, the introducing unit should prevent it from escaping and spreading into the wild.
The second is to strengthen port prevention and control. Customs shall strengthen prevention and control at ports, crack down on illegal acts such as illegal introduction, carrying, delivery and smuggling of alien species, and dispose of invasive alien species found in accordance with law.
The third is to strengthen domestic quarantine. The competent departments for agriculture, rural areas, forestry and grasslands at or above the county level shall strengthen quarantine supervision over the transfer of crops and forest and grass seeds and seedlings, plant products, aquatic seedlings, etc. across regions within the territory to prevent the spread of invasive alien species.
l How does the Measures provide for the monitoring and early warning of invasive alien species?
In order to strengthen the monitoring and early warning of invasive alien species and timely grasp the status of invasive alien species, the Measures mainly make provisions in three aspects.
The first is to carry out investigation and monitoring. Establish a census and monitoring system for invasive alien species, organize a national census every ten years, build a monitoring network for invasive alien species at all levels of the country, and carry out normalized monitoring. Monitoring information must not be concealed or falsely reported by any unit or individual, and monitoring information must not be released without authorization.
The second is to issue early warning forecasts. Competent departments such as for agriculture and rural areas, forestry and grasslands at or above the provincial level, and customs shall strengthen monitoring information sharing, analyze and judge the occurrence and spread trends of invasive alien species, promptly issue early warning forecasts, and guide the development of prevention and control.
The third is to standardize the release of information. The overall situation of invasive alien species in the country shall be uniformly released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in consultation with relevant departments. The occurrence of invasive alien species in relevant fields shall be released by the relevant departments of the State Council in accordance with their duties and powers. The provincial-level competent departments for agriculture and rural affairs, in consultation with relevant departments, uniformly release the situation of invasive alien species in their respective administrative regions.
l Regarding the implementation of governance restoration, what are the clear provisions of the Measures?
In order to vigorously promote the management and restoration of invasive alien species, the Measures stipulate that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the State Forestry and Grassland Administration shall study and formulate strategies and measures for the prevention and control of invasive alien species in accordance with the division of responsibilities.
All local departments at all levels for agriculture and rural areas, natural resources, forestry and grassland, and so forth, shall formulate prevention and control governance plans in light of actual conditions and implement prevention and control measures.
For the treatment of invasive alien plants, measures such as manual removal, mechanical eradication, spraying of green agents, and release of biological natural enemies can be taken during the growth critical periods such as the seedling, flowering or fruiting periods according to the actual situation.
In the management of foreign invasive diseases and insect pests, measures such as the selection of disease- and insect-resistant varieties, seedling pretreatment, physical removal, chemical eradication, and biological control shall be adopted to effectively prevent the spread of diseases and insect pests.
In the management of invasive aquatic animals, measures such as targeted fishing should be taken to prevent their further spread of harm.
l How to gradually and properly implement the detailed rules in the Measures?
First, do a good job in publicizing and interpreting the "Measures". Adopt a combination of online and offline methods to conduct professional training and policy interpretation for staff of relevant departments at all levels across the country, effectively improve the ability to supervise and manage according to law, and enhance the overall awareness of national ecological security protection. At the same time, the production and distribution of various forms of popular science publicity materials, easy to understand, to enhance the public's awareness of the prevention and control of invasive alien species.
The second is to promote the census of invasive alien species. In areas such as farmland, fishery waters, forests, grasslands, wetlands, and major ports of entry, we will speed up the implementation of a census of invasive alien species to find out the number, distribution range, and degree of harm of invasive alien species on the mainland.
The third is to strengthen the management of invasive alien species. Formulate prevention and control guidelines by category and species, clarify the key periods, key areas and main measures for prevention and control, strengthen policy support and technical guidance for governance work, and adopt comprehensive measures to effectively control invasive alien species.