Pangolin will be "short-listed" in the newly compiled List of National Key Protected Wild Animals without any suspense. Photo by Jiang Zhigang
Moose photographed in the wild in Altai Mountain. It is the largest deer in the world. Its protection level will be raised to the first level. Institute of Zoology，Chinese Academy of Sciences
Qingdao lily, also known as Laoshan lily, is a perennial monocotyledonous herb, native to Shandong Province, and is a newly added second-class protected species.
Paphiopedilum Malipo is a newly recorded first-class protected species. institute of botany,the chinese academy of sciences
A few days ago, the newly compiled List of National Key Protected Wild Animals (hereinafter referred to as the List of Animals) and List of National Key Protected Wild Plants (hereinafter referred to as the List of Plants) began to be publicized to the whole society and solicited opinions.
Scientists believe that biodiversity includes animals, plants, microorganisms, ecosystems and their ecological processes, among which animals and plants are the most important part of the biological world and have the closest relationship with human beings. The protection of wild animals and plants is the basis of maintaining biodiversity and ecological balance, and is also closely related to the declaration of world heritage and the establishment of national parks, nature reserves and scenic spots.
The number of listed species has increased significantly.
"Overall, the updating of the directory will have a far-reaching impact on the protection of endangered wild animals and plants in China, and will also be conducive to the country’s ecological protection, biodiversity protection, heritage site protection and the restoration of the national ecological environment." Jiang Zhigang, a researcher at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, participated in the research on mammals in the Catalogue of Animals. He said that the country’s work of updating the list of animals and plants has condensed brand-new scientific and technological wisdom. Scientific and technological workers absorb the latest zoological knowledge and research results at home and abroad, and comprehensively consider the living conditions, endangered conditions, protection levels and management needs of species; The opinions of experts, managers and the public were also widely solicited.
The Animal Catalogue for this consultation involves 661 species of wild animals in 17 classes and 70 orders, which is more than twice as many as the first edition in 1989. "Scientists generally believe that the current endangered situation of species is still serious, and more and more species need to be protected. The main influencing factors are the change of species’ living conditions, endangered status, management needs and international factors. Recently, it was affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. " By clarifying the protection level of wild animals again, we are actually re-examining the relationship between people and wild animals. Jiang Zhigang thinks so.
The newly compiled Catalogue of Plants contains 468 species and 25 species of wild plants. On the basis of the first batch of Catalogue of Plants, 55 species were deleted and 296 species and 17 species were added. The number of species listed in the two lists has increased significantly compared with before.
Dr. Qin Haining from Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been involved in the tracking and revision of the Catalogue of Plants since it was first published in China in 1999. He said that the number of species newly compiled in the Catalogue of Plants has nearly doubled compared with before. "When the first batch of Plant Catalogue was published in 1999, many plant groups with high economic value and serious resource destruction were not included for various reasons. For example, Orchidaceae, Peony and Ginseng were not added until this time. " He emphasized that in recent years, the state has obviously strengthened the protection of the natural environment and enhanced its emphasis on ecological concepts; In addition, after the COVID-19 epidemic, the whole society paid more attention to animal and plant protection … … These social development backgrounds have given a "green light" to the expansion and publication of the directory.
Respond to the global protection goal
On July 9th, while the newly compiled Catalogue of Plants was publicly solicited for comments, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) also updated the latest data in 2020 for the IUCN Global Red List of Threatened Species (hereinafter referred to as the IUCN Red List).
Qin Haining believes that the purpose of compiling these "lists" is to show the endangered status of species, provide a basis for the government to formulate protection policies, and attract public attention. In the process of updating the Catalogue of Plants, we not only refer to the management effect and growth and decline of protected species in China for more than 20 years, but also refer to the list of plants that should be given priority and priority protection listed in the Red List of IUCN and the Red List of Biodiversity in China compiled by China. However, these directories have their own characteristics. IUCN Red List and China Biodiversity Red List are expert systems compiled according to international common standards, which encourage "all assessments should be made". Only some species in the list are endangered. For example, the Red List of Biodiversity in China — — Volume of Higher Plants has assessed more than 34,000 species of plants in China, of which only 3,700 species are "threatened", accounting for about 11%. The Catalogue of Animals and the Catalogue of Plants are issued by the government and provide legal protection. The red list ranks the degree of endangerment in the first place; The protection list first considers the values of economy, scientific research and ecological culture.
In December 2019, the Ministry of Natural Resources became a national member representative of the World Conservation Union (IUCN).
"The state is the subject of threatened species protection. ‘ Red List of National Endangered Species ’ It reflects the living conditions of this species in this country, "Jiang Zhigang said: For example, moose has a large population and wide distribution in North America and Europe, and was rated as" non-dangerous "by the IUCN Red List. But it is completely different in China, which is only distributed in Aershan and Daxing ‘anling, so it was rated as "extremely dangerous" by the Red List of Biodiversity in China. This provides an important basis for China to formulate protection countermeasures.
It is of great significance to the development of natural heritage.
Experts agree that the gradual implementation of the newly compiled Catalogue of Animals and Catalogue of Plants is an important event for biodiversity protection in China and an important embodiment of the country’s emphasis on ecological civilization construction.
Jiang Zhigang explained that the updating process of Animal Catalogue and Plant Catalogue is that the state constantly confirms and reminds people in the form of laws and regulations to restrain people’s behavior in nature reserves. "This will definitely have a positive impact on the protection of the world natural heritage." Qin Haining added: "When we talk about biodiversity in the world natural heritage standards, we will mention the quantity and value of endemic, endangered and protected species. 50% of the wild plants in China and 60% of the species on the protection list are endemic to China, which means that they are unique resources in the world. Therefore, protecting biodiversity in China means protecting global biodiversity. Therefore, the promotion of the new catalogue is conducive to the declaration of new heritage sites and the protection of the original natural heritage sites. "
After the formal promulgation and implementation, the relevant management and law enforcement departments will implement protection measures according to the two new catalogues, delimit new protected areas, and use this as a basis to approve projects related to biodiversity protection and control exports. Qin Haining believes that the protection of animal and plant species still needs to be combined with the protection of ecosystems to produce the best results. He believes that after the official publication of the directory, the state needs to start supporting protection measures as soon as possible, and the management department should establish a long-term tracking and updating mechanism, such as formulating the principle of updating and withdrawing the directory, and regularly updating it every once in a while.
Extended reading
In the Catalogue of Animals for public consultation, giant pandas, red-crowned cranes, tigers, leopards and snow leopards are still under first-class protection. The familiar Tibetan antelope, Tibetan wild donkey and python are reduced to secondary protection. In addition, snakes and fish that were common in the wild were included in a large number this time. Among them, 20 species of Serpentidae are newly listed in the list, and the protection levels of Jinggangshan Ridge Snake, Sansuo Snake, Xizang Hot Spring Snake, Sichuan Hot Spring Snake and Shangri-La Hot Spring Snake are all Grade I; 29 species of CYPRINIDAE were newly listed, among which tong yu in the north and tong yu in the wild round mouth were added as the first-class protected species.
(The photos in this article are from the Internet except the signature)
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