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China to Strengthen Control on Nature Reserves
As the number of China's nature reserves continues to increase, the administration of the reserves should likewise be strengthened to prevent scattered development and destruction of resources, stressed an environmental official Wednesday.
At a news briefing, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) announced that the focus of future development of nature reserves will be reversed from the quantity-over-quality mentality, now favoring ecological benefits over speed.
According to statistics, China now has 1,146 nature reserves, 34 times the number of 1978. The total area of the reserves has surpassed 88.15 million hectares, accounting for 8.8 percent of China's land area, and the ratio is higher than the world average.
However, unlawful practices, such as destroying resources and blind development, are common in China's nature reserves.
The leaders of some local governments lack the awareness of sustainable development and falsely believe that ecological protection will restrict economic development, said Yang Chaofei, director of the department of natural ecological protection under SEPA.
Surveys show that 44 percent of China's nature reserves have no administrative organ, and 35 percent have no management staff. Among the reserves' supervisors, only 22 percent received technical training in environmental protection.
Yang said that SEPA will work with the public, especially local government leaders, to increase their understanding of the establishment and administration of nature reserves. Efforts to enforce laws and regulations concerning nature reserve should be strengthened, he said.
He said that SEPA will increase investment in construction and administration of nature reserves and try to set up management organizations in all of the reserves in five years, with researchers assigned.
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