1101 species of wild plants under key protection in China The kiwifruit resources were under key protection for the first time

China focuses on protecting 1101 species of wild plants

China is one of the countries with the richest wild plant species, with more than 36,000 species of higher plants alone, of which 15,000 to 18,000 are endemic species, accounting for nearly 50% of the total number of higher plants in China. Silver fir, tung tree, Baishan ancestral fir, canopy wood, etc. are all rare and endangered wild plants unique to China.

Recently, with the approval of the State Council, the newly adjusted Directory of Wild Plants under National Key Protection (hereinafter referred to as the "List") was updated and released again after a gap of 22 years.

The list of key protected wild plants selected in the new List includes 455 species and 40 categories listed in whole families, whole genera or groups, with a total of 1101 species.

These selected species (classes) of wild plants are divided into national first- and second-level protected wild plants according to the degree of endangerment and rarity and their value. There are 54 species and 4 categories of wild plants protected at the national level, with a total of about 125 species, and 401 species and 36 categories of wild plants under national second-level protection, with a total of about 976 species.

For the first time, kiwifruit resources have been protected

Bryophytes are the second largest family in the plant kingdom and are found all over the world. Among the mosses that people see on the roadside stone steps every day is moss. But mosses are extremely sensitive to changes in the environment. Due to environmental pollution, deforestation and habitat destruction, many bryophyte populations have been drastically reduced or even endangered in recent years. Among the wild plants selected for national key protection this time, bryophytes appeared for the first time.

Zhang Li, director of the Bryophyte Professional Committee of the Botanical Society of China, once introduced that through the joint efforts of researchers, a total of 5 bryophytes have been included in the revised "List". These include the rare and critically endangered horned leaf moss.

At the same time, Guangxi Huotong, Guangxi Qingmei, Dabie Mountain Five-Needle Pine, Woolly Branch Five-Needle Pine and Fluffy Soap Pod have also been upgraded to national first-class protected plants; fan fern, coarse-toothed alder, ten-toothed flower, etc. have been removed due to the large number of species or no direct threat.

China is known as the native center of kiwifruit. At the beginning of the 20th century, a New Zealand female teacher brought back kiwifruit seeds from the Yichang area of Hubei Province, China, and successfully tried to plant them. Subsequently, kiwifruit produced in New Zealand gradually occupied the market around the world. Based on the consideration of germplasm resource conservation, the "List" includes five kinds of wild kiwifruit, including Chinese kiwifruit, soft jujube kiwifruit, golden flower kiwifruit, strip leaf kiwifruit, and large seed kiwifruit.

Prevent overexploitation

Compared with the "List" released in 1999, the protection level of 18 species of wild plants has been adjusted, 268 species and 32 categories have been added, and 35 species of wild plants have been deleted. The updated List also follows the "precautionary principle": some species have important economic value or potential economic value, have been artificially used or may be artificially used, although they are not currently endangered, but if their use is not restricted, they are likely to become endangered species. Under this criterion, plants affected by human mining are also included in the list of concerns.

Peat moss in bryophytes is the main vegetation for water conservation in the swamp, which can absorb water several times higher than its own weight, so it is also widely used as a flower cultivation material in the horticultural industry, and the market demand is very large. In the northeast forest area and the southwest mountainous area, the mining of wild peat moss is very common.

Jin Xiaohua, a researcher at the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, participated in the revision and coordination of the Directory. He said that in order to cope with the threats that may result from overexploitation and utilization, the List includes three species of bryophytes, such as juniper-leaved white-haired moss, multi-striped peat moss, and coarse-leaved peat moss; at the same time, new species such as orchids, wild tulips, Xing'an rhododendrons and snow rabbits have been added.

Both unauthorized collection and uncontrolled mining are illegal (extended reading)

Wild plants included in the List of Wild Plants under National Key Protection are protected by law. The Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Wild Plants stipulate that the collection, sale and acquisition of wild plants under national first-level protection are prohibited. The collection, sale and acquisition of wild plants under national second-level protection shall be subject to the approval of the relevant departments.

Since March 1, 2021, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate have added "crimes of endangering plants under national key protection".

A spirit

Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition