The SEPA held a press conference in Beijing on December 7. At the press conference, SEPA Vice Minister Wu Xiaoqing released the Guidelines for the Plan on National Key Ecological Functional Protected Areas and the Guidelines for the Plan on the Protection and Utilization of National Resources of Biological Species (hereinafter referred to as the two Guidelines)

SEPA releasing the Guidelines for the Plan on the Protection and Utilization of National Resources of Biological Species

In a bid to intensify the protection, prevent the drain and loss and make sustainable use of resources of biological species, as per the requests of the Circular on the Strengthening of the Protection and Management of Resources of Biological Species (Guo Ban Fa No. [2004] 25) by the General Office of the State Council and in light of the spirit of the Inter-ministerial Joint Meeting on the Protection of Resources of Biological Species, the SEPA, together with 16 members of the Inter-ministerial Joint Meeting on the Protection of Resources of Biological Species has spent two years in compiling the Guidelines for the Plan on the Protection and Utilization of National Resources of Biological Species (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines). Following the approval of the State Council, the SEPA formally release the Guidelines in October of 2007. The Guidelines is in conformity with the requirements of mid and long-term national development strategy and is the first-ever major guiding document in the field of protection over resources of biological species in China. It is of great significance to the development and advancement of the protection work over resources of biological species under the new situation. The implementation of the Guidelines will boost the effective protection of China's rich resources of biological species, reduce the drain and loss of biological species and their genetic resources, secure the sustainable existence and potential use of biological species and their genetic resources, safeguard national biological security and allow future generations to benefit from resources of biological species. At the same time, it also demonstrates China's attitude of serious implementation of international conventions and active participation in international cooperation.

The Guidelines is most featured of being full and accurate with highlighted key points. By "being full and accurate", the Guidelines covers all the industries and fields involving resources of biological species with specific targets and tasks and sound practicability, while "with highlighted key points" refers to the fact that the Guidelines identifies the key areas and priority move for the protection and use of resources of biological species, stresses the protection of the intactness of the original habitats of species resources, prevent the drain of species resources and practice strict control over the movement of species resources to other countries so as to prevent their loss.

The Guidelines lays down the strategic thought and strategic tasks for the protection and utilization of the resources of biological species. First, the Guidelines clearly define the five principles in the protection and utilization of species resources including national sovereignty, scientificalness, priority to protection, protection and utilization coordination and multi-lateral participation. The identification of the five principles exerts great significance to China in participating in international negotiation, seeking national interest and better handling the relation between protection and utilization. Second, the Guidelines puts forward the overall targets for the protection and utilization of the resources of biological species in the next 15 years and draw up the plans for three "five-year" phases for implementation. In specific, the goal is to bring the current trend of rapid reduction of resources of biological species under basic control by 2010; to basically curb the drain and loss of the resources of biological species by 2015; and to bring all the resources of biological species under effective protection by 2020. These targets indicate the strategic direction of national sustainable development and are attainable through our endeavor. Third, the Guidelines pinpoints the short and mid-and-long-term plan and task for 12 major fields, which cover various aspects of animal, plant and microorganism as well as conventional knowledge and the management of the entry and exit of species. The breakdown of the tasks to the 12 major fields is of clear instructional importance to the formulation of plan in various fields in the next step. Fourth, the Guidelines present the 10 priority move and 55 priority projects on the protection and utilization of the resources of biological species during the 11th "Five-Year" Plan period. Such a move points out the direction for addressing outstanding problems at present and making the input of financial resources.

In order to secure its implementation, the Guidelines requests the amplification of the management system and coordination mechanism, upgrade of the system construction of related laws and regulations, increasing efforts in law enforcement, improvement of economic policy and market-based supervision system, augmentation of capital input, heightening public campaign and education as well as scientific research, betterment of the securing level of human resource capacity and the exploration and establishment of public participation mechanism.

SEPA issues the Guidelines for the Plan on National Key Ecological Functional Protected Areas

The construction of eco-functional protected areas is a major measure and effective approach for the unified planning on harmonious development between man and nature as well as the improvement of ecological environmental quality. It is a crucial instrument for the effective management over the restriction of development of functional protected areas and is an effective eco-conservation pattern accommodating to the national conditions at the present stage. In light of the spirit of the National Outline of Ecological Environment Conservation, the Decision of the State Council on the Implementation of the Outlook on Scientific Development and Strengthening Environmental Protection and the Suggestions on the Compilation of the Plan for National Subject Functional Protected Areas released by the State Council, the SEPA formally issued the Guidelines for the Plan on National Key Ecological Functional Protected Areas (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines) recently. The Guidelines is the first ever regulatory document on the conservation of eco-functional protected areas and is of great significance to instructing the construction of eco-functional protected areas in China.

As the Guidelines point out, eco-functional protected areas refers to the selected area subject to special conservation and development and construction restriction within key eco-functional protected areas of special importance in terms of water resource conservation, water and soil conservation, flood regulation and storage, wind prevention and dune fixing and maintaining biodiversity. The establishment of eco-functional protected areas and the protection of major regional eco-functions are of primary importance to the prevention and alleviation of natural disasters, coordinating eco-conservation and economic and social development with river basins and regions and safeguarding national and local eco-security. National key eco-functional protected areas refer to the eco-functional protected areas of vital significance for safeguarding national eco-security and those demanding joint national and local protection and management.

The Guidelines underscore that it is drafted as per the requests of the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council on the establishment of eco-functional protected areas. The CPC General Secretary Hu Jintao stressed at the Work Meeting on Population, Resources and the Environment held by the CPC Central Committee in 2004 that we should "properly draft the plan on eco-functional protected areas and eco-conservation, upgrade efforts in the construction of key eco-functional protected areas and nature reserves and raise the quality for their protection". Both the National Outline of Ecological Environment Conservation and the Decision of the State Council on the Implementation of the Outlook on Scientific Development and Strengthening Environmental Protection by the State Council spell out that we must take protective measures to prevent the damage to eco-environment and the degradation of eco-functions through the establishment of eco-functional protected areas. The Guidelines of the 11th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of China also lists the construction of key eco-functional protected areas as one of the major tasks in promoting the formation of subject functional protected areas and the building of a resource-saving and environment-friendly society.

The Guidelines highlight that since eco-functional protected areas belong to the category of areas of restricted development, it should lay down related social and economic policies including fiscal, industrial, investment, population and performance checkup ones catering to its local conditions, reinforce supervision on the law enforcement of eco-environmental protection, upgrade the conservation and restoration of eco-functions, guide the development of industries with local specialty and within the bearability of resources and the environment, restrict the expansion of industries damaging leading eco-functions and take the development path oriented by ecology-friendly economy by sticking to the principle of giving priority to protection, development restriction and spot-based development.

The Guidelines request that eco-functional protected areas should properly handle the relationship with various types of areas under special protection including nature reserves, world cultural and natural heritage, scenic spots, forest park and geological park. Spatially speaking, eco-functional protected areas should exclude the foregoing areas. Regarding the construction, repetition work should be avoided with different areas complementing each other, while regarding the management scheme, the jurisdiction and administrative method of all types of areas under special protection shall remain unchanged.

The Guidelines state that we should make rational layout of national key eco-functional protected areas, build up a relatively matured construction system of eco-functional protected areas, establish a rather sophisticated system over related policies, laws and regulations and standards and technical specifications regarding eco-functional protected areas based on the key national areas for restricted development identified in the Guidelines of the 11th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of China so as to bring the ecological degradation of key eco-functional protected areas in China under check, effectively rehabilitate and improve major eco-functions and effectively translate related policies of areas subject to development restriction into real practice.

The Guidelines identify the work in the following three aspects regarding eco-functional protected areas: the first is to guide rational industrial development. We should actively develop eco-agriculture, eco-forestry and eco-tourism in accordance with the actual local resource endowment of each locality; construct medicine material bases in areas with rich resources in Chinese herbal medicine to boost the development of biological resources; establish stable, quality and high-yield cultivated forage grass base and promote breeding in pens in areas dominated by livestock breeding; rationally develop sand mining industry in major wind prevention and dune fixing areas; develop the economy regarding flood prevention in areas of flood detention and storage; and develop marine eco-farming and eco-tourism in marine eco-functional protected areas. Meanwhile, we should also restrict the development of heavy-polluting, energy and material-intensive industries. We should phase out heavy-polluting, ecologically-damaging and energy and resource-intensive industries, close down resource-damaging, polluting enterprises damaging the functions of eco-system according to the law. Meanwhile, we should also energetically promote alternative clean energies such as biogas, wind power, small hydro-power, solar power and geothermal power to meet the energy demand in rural areas and reduce the damage to the natural eco-system. The second is to protect and rehabilitate eco-functions. We should follow the principles of giving priority to addressing urgent problems, highlighting key points, preferring protection to treatment and taking countermeasures targeting specific damage by considering local situation, heighten the efforts in the protection and rehabilitation of natural eco-system based on ongoing or planned eco-treatment projects with the aim to improving water resource conservation capability, restoring the function of water and soil conservation, consolidating the function of wind prevention and dune fixing, improving the capability of flood regulation and storage and boosting regional environmental quality. The third is to step up the supervision on eco-environment. We should improve environmental law enforcement capacity and avoid the situation of construction along side with destruction through stringent enforcement of laws and regulations as well as the capacity building on supervision; improve the level of eco-environmental monitoring, forecasting and early-warning with these areas, promptly grasp the dynamic situation of leading eco-functional with the areas through the amplification of monitoring and scientific research so as to provide reference for the decision making regarding the construction and management of eco-functional protected areas; and increase the understanding of the importance of regional eco-functions among the general public to enable them to take the initiative to safeguard ecological security within the region or the water basin through more efforts in public campaign and education.

The Guidelines request that environmental protection departments at all levels should strengthen inter-departmental coordination. They should establish the comprehensive decision making mechanism, actively launch joint law enforcement overhaul with other relevant departments, harshly investigate and punish all forms of behaviors damaging the eco-environment and eco-functions within the eco-functional protected areas. They should make scientific planning, formulate the plan for key eco-functional protected areas and incorporate the main contents of the plan into the plan for national economic and social development of governments at various levels. They should establish the investment system with multiple funding channels, study and develop various preferential investment and financing and taxation policies for the eco-functional protected areas and gradually establish and improve the eco-environment compensation mechanism. They should put more efforts in scientific and technological innovation, heighten the tackling of key problems concerning multi-purpose use of resources, ecological reconstruction and rehabilitation, reduce the consumption of resources, control environmental pollution and promote ecological restoration. They should raise the participation awareness of the public, make full use of mass media of radio, TV and newspaper to extensively popularize the crucial role and significance of the construction of eco-functional protected areas and mobilize the public to participate in this construction drive.