On November 12, 2022, the side event "Cross Regional Wetland Action: Connecting People, Species and Habitats" of 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP14) co-hosted by the Research Institute of Environmental Law of Wuhan University, the Global Environmental Institute (GEI), the International Crane Foundation (ICF), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and the Conservation International (CI) was successfully held in the East Lake International Conference Center.
Nearly 500 participants from the Executive Committee Office of the COP14, the Poyang Lake Nature Reserve Bureau, the Dandong Yalu River Estuary Wetland National Nature Reserve Management Center, the Global Environmental Institute, the International Crane Foundation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Conservation International, Hello Inc., Shanghai Disneyland Resort, RGE (Royal Golden Eagle) Group Sateri, Pernod Ricard China, LOHAS magazine and the Research Institute of Environmental Law of Wuhan University gathered together both online and offline to focus on cross regional wetland protection actions and explore effective protection of human, species and wetland habitat.
The opening ceremony of the meeting was presided over by Ren Peng, Program Manager of the Global Environmental Institute (GEI).
Ren Peng, Program Manager of the Global Environmental Institute (GEI)
First of all, Mr. Meng Xianlin, Director of the Executive Committee Office of the COP14 and former Director of the Department of International Cooperation of the State Administration of Forestry and Grassland, and Rich Beilfuss, President of the International Crane Foundation, delivered speeches for this side event.
Mr. Meng Xianlin, Director of the Executive Committee Office of the COP14 and former Director of the International Cooperation Department of the State Administration of Forestry and Grassland
Director Meng Xianlin said that wetland is an important natural ecosystem, which is not only an important basis for maintaining national ecological security, but also plays an ecological role in conserving water, regulating climate, improving environment, and maintaining biodiversity. It is also closely related to human survival and development. Historic achievements have been made in wetland protection in China, and we are pushing ahead with more wetland protection work, but we still have a long way to go to achieve international advanced level. Therefore, we need to incorporate more wetlands into the national park system, implement the national wetland protection plan and launch major wetland protection projects, and promote international exchanges and cooperation. One of the key words of these works is "coordinated development and win-win cooperation", which also fits the theme of this side event - Cross Regional Wetland Action: Connecting People, Species and Habitats.
Mr. Rich Beifuss, President of the International Crane Foundation
Mr. Rich Beifuss, President of the International Crane Foundation, said that wetlands are not only an important connection between man and nature, but also an important natural resource. Crane protection is very important for global wetland protection and ecosystem protection, which is conducive to helping all parties to establish a strong partnership between multiple stakeholders. We look forward to constructive discussions on topics such as "Community Wetland Protection in East and Southeast Asia", "Collaborative Protection of Crane Migration Routes", and "Role of NGOs in Wetland Protection".
In the following keynote speech, representatives from different government agencies, public welfare organizations, research institutions and enterprises shared their experiences and achievements in wetland protection. This session was presided over by Ms. Hua Ning, the director of the Ecological Protection Project of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Ms. Hua Ning, Director of Ecological Protection Project of Natural Resources Defense Council
Ms. Chen Yunzhu, Senior Project Officer of the Global Environmental Institute, introduced GEI's best practices in community wetland conservation in East and Southeast Asia, taking the mangrove conservation project in Indonesia as an example, she emphasized the importance of establishing a cross regional community protection network; Ms. Yu Qian, the chief representative of the Beijing Representative Office of the International Crane Foundation, shared the coordinated protection of cranes along their migration routes, taking the conservation project of the eastern migratory species of white cranes as an example; In his speech, Mr. Jon Devine, Director of Water Resources Protection Project of Natural Resources Defense Council, emphasized multiple benefits of climate friendly wetland protection and restoration on local ecological health and vitality development; Mr. Richard Jeo, Senior Vice President of Conservation International, and Mr. Xu Zhiwen, Director of Jiangxi Poyang Lake National Nature Reserve Bureau and representative of FAO-GEF Jiangxi Wetland Reserve System Demonstration Project, shared their practice of wetland conservation with multi stakeholders, and Mr. Xu released his new book,Interesting Life in Poyang Lake; Ms. Zhao Wenjuan, the representative of the "Action for the Sea" project, introduced to the guests the founding goal of the "Action for the Sea" and how to join Chinese non-governmental organizations in wetland protection, and demonstrated the progress of wetland protection projects in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea, the East China Sea, the South China Sea and other regions.
In the round table discussion segment of the side event, different stakeholders from government departments, research institutions, enterprises, international organizations, NGOs had a heated discussion on topics such as multi stakeholder participation in wetland action and collaborative participation of enterprises in wetland protection. The round table discussion was divided into two parts.
In the first part, guests had an in-depth discussion on "Multi-Stakeholder Engagement in Wetland Conservation". This part is chaired by Ms. Chen Yunzhu, Senior Program Officer of the Global Environmental Institute.
Ms. Chen Yunzhu, Senior Program Officer of the Global Environmental Institute.
Ma Li, Director of Dandong Yalu River Estuary Wetland National Nature Reserve Management Center, introduced the basic situation of the Reserve, believing that governments at different levels should strengthen cooperation with non-governmental organizations and stakeholders, and he also introduced the direction of future wetland protection from the perspective of national policies, laws and regulations. Riza Aditya n Ilham, of Yagasu Foundation in Indonesia, introduced that the foundation has achieved economic and environmental benefits by encouraging local community residents and women to participate in mangrove protection and inspection, and developing mangrove related product processing industry. Mr. Zhang Jing, Marine Project Manager of Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology, introduced the strategy and specific work of the Foundation in the field of wetland protection from the aspects of coastal wetland protection, bird protection, scientific investigation, international exchange and cooperation, etc. Mr. Wang Lanhua, President of Jiangxi Birdwatching Association, introduced the basic information of Jiangxi Birdwatching Association and hoped that its members could make more contributions to wetland protection in terms of data feedback, information provision and front-line protection. Ms. Li Hui, senior manager of environmental affairs and horticulture in Shanghai Disneyland Resort, took the "Xingyuan Park", an artificial wetland park in Shanghai Disneyland Resort, as an example to discuss how enterprises can make more positive contributions to wetland environmental protection in terms of design concept, infrastructure, daily maintenance, etc.
In the round table discussion of the second part, representatives from various enterprises had an in-depth discussion on the theme of “the Role of Enterprises in Wetland Protection". This part is chaired by Mr. Zhang Cheng, China Program Director of Conservation International.
Mr. Zhang Cheng, China Program Director of Conservation International
Mr. Wu Qiwei, Senior Operation Director of Hello Business Unit, discussed the concept of "green travel" and "carbon reduction" of cycling business, as well as carbon management system. In her speech, Ms. Wang Yu, vice president of PR and communication of Pernod Ricard China, stressed the importance of biodiversity conservation for enterprises to provide high-quality products, and shared the relevant information about the cooperation with the Conservation China Foundation in mangrove conservation. Mr. Gao Baoyu, Deputy General Manager responsible for sustainable development of RGE (Royal Golden Eagle) Group Sateri, believes that the Poyang Lake Wetland Protection Project is part of the enterprise's strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and introduces their practice in publicity, cooperation and so on. Ms. Yang Xiaodan, the publisher of LOHAS magazine and the general manager of Weekend Pictorial in Beijing, believed that to pay attention to ecology and nature is to pay attention to human beings ourselves, and that wetland ecological protection and biodiversity protection should be the main topic of the media's attention and discussion.
Finally, Professor Qin Tianbao, Director of the Research Institute of Environmental Law of Wuhan University, summarized the meeting.
Professor Qin Tianbao, Director of the Research Institute of Environmental Law, Wuhan University
Professor Qin Tianbao summarized the core content of this side event as "diversity and unity". It can be seen from this side event that the main bodies of wetland protection are diverse. Party Committee and governments, enterprises, social organizations, scientific research institutions and media should all support and cooperate with each other. There are multiple dimensions of protection, including both top-down approach which features government deployment and bottom-up approach which involves mainly voluntary civil activities; Both international organizations introduced their experiences, and local organizations spread their stories. There are various ways of protection, including the manufacturing and service industries taking the initiative to assume social responsibility, the policy advocacy of social organizations, the publicity and education of the media, and personal practice. The goal of all stakeholders is the same, that is, to protect wetlands is to protect human beings themselves in an effort to "realize the harmonious coexistence of human and nature". Professor Qin Tianbao stressed that the Research Institute of Environmental Law of Wuhan University, as a think tank in the field of national environmental rule of law, is willing to provide legal services for the legitimate demands of multiple subjects while closely following the country's major needs for rule of law.
The successful holding of the side event of the COP-14, co-hosted by the Research Institute of Environmental Law and other co sponsors, is another example of the Institute's initiative to play its role as a think tank and effectively undertake the tasks entrusted by relevant departments. Through sharing the excellent practices and cases of cross regional protection between China and East Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania and other regions, this meeting discussed the joint action mechanism, protection cooperation platform and network for wetland species and habitat protection, and made positive contributions to demonstrate China as a big responsible country promoting global wetland protection. This meeting was highly praised by the Executive Committee Office of the COP-14 and the State Administration of Forestry and Grassland.
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