The selection process for the third batch of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Tentative List has begun

Notice of the General Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on the Selection of the Third Batch of Tentative List of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Sites

In order to thoroughly implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's congratulatory letter to the GIAHS Conference, continue to increase the excavation, protection and sustainable use of GIAHS, and provide solid services to comprehensively promote rural revitalization, in accordance with the Measures for the Management of Important Agricultural Heritage Sites, the selection of the third batch of China's GIAHS Tentative List is hereby organized. The relevant matters are notified as follows. I. Background Launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 2002, the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) initiative aims to establish GIAHS and related landscape, biodiversity, knowledge and cultural conservation systems to promote global food security, sustainable agricultural development and agricultural cultural heritage through dynamic conservation and adaptive management of heritage.

GIAHS contains multi-functional values such as history, ethnicity, culture, ecology, economy, science and technology, and has special functions and roles in promoting the integration of agriculture, culture and tourism, upgrading the industrial value chain, ecological conservation, expanding brand influence, improving infrastructure and public services, building farmers' capacity, and increasing farmers' income. The mainland was one of the first countries to participate in the GIAHS work, and now has 22 GIAHS, the largest number of GIAHS among all countries. The conservation and utilization of GIAHS in mainland China has achieved good social, ecological and economic benefits, and has effectively promoted the sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas in the heritage sites.

Driven by the GIAHS work, our ministry launched the excavation and protection of China's important agricultural cultural heritage in 2013, and successively released seven batches of 188 heritage lists, which provided an important guarantee for the mainland's application for GIAHS. In order to continue to do a good job in the application of GIAHS projects in mainland China, our ministry has established a GIAHS preparatory system in China, which selects eligible sites from the list of important agricultural cultural heritage of China to enter the tentative list, and implements dynamic management, and selects the best from the tentative list to recommend the application to FAO in a timely manner according to the FAO GIAHS assessment work arrangement.

2. Application conditions (1) The application of the GIAHS preparatory project is open to the traditional agricultural systems that have been selected as important agricultural cultural heritage of China.

(2) Meet the basic conditions determined by FAO, namely: provide a material basis for ensuring food security, livelihood security and social well-being of local residents; have a variety of ecological service functions and landscape values such as biodiversity conservation, soil and water conservation, and water conservation; contain traditional knowledge and technologies in the utilization of biological resources, agricultural production, soil and water conservation, landscape maintenance, etc.; have historical accumulation and cultural diversity, and have cultural inheritance value in social organization and art; and embody the ecological wisdom of harmonious coexistence and development between man and nature.

(3) It has certain advantages and characteristics: it has significant uniqueness compared with the same type of agricultural heritage in the world, the application work has been widely supported by the residents of the place where the heritage is located, the preliminary organization and system construction of heritage protection has been completed, it has obtained good and stable financial and technical support guarantees, and the protection has achieved remarkable results after being selected as an important agricultural heritage in China.

3. Application and selection procedures (1) County and city declaration. The people's government at or above the county level shall be the subject of the declaration, and the application materials shall be submitted to the provincial agricultural and rural departments for summary review in accordance with the requirements.

(2) Provincial recommendation. The provincial agricultural and rural departments shall review and screen in accordance with the application conditions and recommend them to our department.

(3) Deliberation and publicity. Our department organizes the preliminary review in accordance with the FAO standards and conditions for GIAHS, and determines the projects to be selected for the tentative list according to the evaluation results and publicizes them, and solicits public opinions and suggestions.

(4) Announcement of results. After the announcement of no objection, the third batch of China's GIAHS tentative list will be announced.

4. Application materials (1) A brief introduction of the heritage project to be submitted (see Annex 1 for details), mainly including the following main contents: summary of the heritage, importance of the heritage (historical and practical significance, uniqueness and creativity), characteristics of the heritage (food and livelihood security; biodiversity and ecosystem services; traditional knowledge and technology system; culture, value system and social organization; characteristics of sea and land landscapes), and the protection and utilization of the heritage since it was selected as an important agricultural cultural heritage of China.

(2) Submit 10-15 photos and related video materials that can reflect the typical characteristics and status of agricultural cultural heritage.

(3) For the heritage items that have been included in the second batch of China's GIAHS tentative list (see Annex 2 for details), only the protection and utilization of agricultural cultural heritage in the past five years will be submitted. Those who do not submit the materials will be automatically removed from the Tentative List.

(4) The paper version of all application materials should be submitted to the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (No. 11, Nanli, Agricultural Exhibition Hall, Chaoyang District, Beijing) before May 11, 2024, and the electronic version of the materials should be sent to [email protected].

5. Contact: International Division, Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs: 010-59192438

Non-governmental Exchange Office, International Exchange Service Center, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs: 010-59191479

Attachments:1. Heritage Project Profile Template

2. The second batch of China's Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Tentative List

General Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs April 15, 2024 Annex 1 Heritage Project Introduction Template 1, Summary of Heritage (within 800 words)

It includes the location of the site, transportation conditions, area of the site, agro-ecological zone, topographic characteristics, climate type, demographics, ethnic composition and other related contents.

2. The importance of heritage

(1) Historical and practical significance (within 500 words)

(2) Uniqueness and creativity (within 800 words)

3. Characteristics of the heritage (within 600 words per item)

(1) Food and livelihood security

(2) Biodiversity and ecosystem services

(iii) Traditional knowledge and technology systems

(4) Culture, value system and social organization

(5) Characteristics of sea and land landscapes

4. Protection and utilization of heritage since it was selected as China's important agricultural heritage (including the highlights of the work carried out and the development plan, within 1,000 words)

Annex 2

The second batch of China's Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Tentative List

1. Tianjin Binhai Cuizhuang Ancient Winter Jujube Garden 2. Traditional Chestnut Cultivation System in Kuancheng, Hebei Province* 3. Dry farming terrace system in Shexian County, Hebei Province* 4. Chestnut compound cultivation system in Qianxi, Hebei Province 5. Shanxi Jishan Banjube Production System 6. Nomadic system in the Alu Horqin grassland of Inner Mongolia 7. Jilin Jiutai Wuguan Tungong Rice Cultivation System 8. Heilongjiang Fuyuan Hezhe Fish Culture System 9. Heilongjiang Ning'an Xiang Rice Cropping Culture System 10. Zhejiang Qingyuan Lentinus Mushroom Culture System* 11. Zhejiang Xianju bayberry cultivation system* 12. Traditional Cultivation and Utilization System of Freshwater Pearls in Deqing, Zhejiang Province 13. Agricultural system of Shaobi (Anfengtang) and irrigation area in Shou County, Anhui Province 14. Anhui Tongling White Ginger Planting System* 15. Fujian Anxi Tieguanyin Tea Culture System* 16. Fujian Fuding White Tea Culture System 17. Jiangxi Nanfeng Tangerine Cultivation System 18. Shandong Leling Jujube Forest Composite System 19. Shandong Zaozhuang Ancient Jujube Forest 20. Ancient Jujube Forest in Lingbaochuan, Henan Province 21. Hubei Enshi Yulu Tea Culture System 22. Hubei Chibi Yanglou Cave Brick Tea Culture System 23. Guangxi Gongcheng persimmon cultivation system 24. Rice culture system of Zhongshan orchid in Qiongshan, Hainan Province 25. Lychee planting system in Yangshan, Haikou, Hainan 26. Chongqing Shizhu Coptis chinensis production system 27. Ancient Tea Trees and Tea Culture System in Huaxi, Guizhou 28. Yunnan Yangbi walnut-crop complex system 29. Rice-wheat multiple cropping system in Jianchuan, Yunnan Province 30. Yunnan Shuangjiang Mengku Ancient Tea Garden and Tea Culture System 31. Buffalo breeding system in Binglang River, Tengchong, Yunnan Province 32. Babao Rice Farming Ecosystem in Guangnan, Yunnan Province 33. Gansu Gaolan Shichuan Ancient Pear Orchard 34. Ningxia Lingwu Jujube Planting System 35. Ningxia Yanchitan Sheep Breeding System 36. Xinjiang Qitai Dryland Agriculture System * has been successfully included in the GIAHS list

Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs website

Editor: Zhu Zixing

Supervisor: Guo Wenping, Xu Feng

Submission email: [email protected]