Wonderful WETLANDS

COP14, short for the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, is being held and will last through to Nov 13. Its main sessions are held in Wuhan, capital city of Central China's Hubei province, and sideline meetings in Geneva, Switzerland. It is the first time for China to host such a conference of the contracting parties to the convention, an intergovernmental treaty that was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in February 1971 and came into force in December 1975. The Convention on Wetlands provides the framework for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources through local and national actions and international cooperation. Every three years, representatives of the contracting parties meet at the COP, where they adopt decisions on the administration of the convention and guide its implementation. Currently, there are 172 contracting parties to the convention. China joined the multilateral environmental convention in 1992. Since then, the country has taken an active part in international cooperation in wetland preservation, protection and promotion. Its efforts include the adoption of the Wetland Protection Law and related regulations, launching wetland surveys, and implementing programs for wetland protection and rehabilitation, as well as expanding international cooperation and exchanges, contributing Chinese solutions to the global community.

With a rich variety and broad distribution of wetland resources, ranging from cool temperate to tropical regions, from plains to plateaus and mountainous areas, China has long valued the protection of this unique type of ecosystem. Since the State Council, China's Cabinet, issued a national wetland conservation plan in 2003, the central government has spent 19.8 billion yuan ($2.73 billion) in wetland conservation and restoration. That includes implementing more than 4,100 wetland restoration projects. With continuous improvements in wetland conditions, the restoration efforts in the country have shifted from rescue to comprehensive protection. To date, the country has established a multifaceted wetland protection and management system, which includes 64 Wetlands of International Importance and 901 national wetland parks.