Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday called for strengthening cooperation on wetlands conservation and scaling up wetlands action across the world.
He made the remarks while delivering a speech via video at the opening ceremony of the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP14).
In his speech, Xi noted that it is important to build global consensus on prizing wetlands, show respect for nature, minimize disruption and damage caused by human activities, and protect the ecological security of wetlands in order to leave the beautiful wetlands to future generations.
“It is important that we advance the global process on wetlands conservation, redouble efforts to preserve authenticity and integrity, include more important wetlands in nature reserves, improve cooperation mechanisms and platforms, and increase the coverage of wetlands of international importance,” Xi said.
He also called for enhancing people’s well-being globally by leveraging the role of wetlands in promoting sustainable development, tackling climate change, protecting biodiversity, and delivering more benefits to people around the world.
Historic achievements have been made in wetlands conservation in China. The country has increased the area of wetlands to 56.35 million hectares, put in place a protection system and enacted a Wetlands Conservation Law, according to Xi.
The president further noted that China will pursue a modernization of harmony between humanity and nature, and promote high-quality development in the wetlands conservation cause.
