People.cn:

The mountain, river, forest, farmland, lake, grassland and desert coexist with a shared future. Therefore, we must systematically consider various ecological elements while implementing protection and restoration. The MNR is responsible for exercising the responsibility of national territorial ecological protection and restoration in a unified way, so what major measures has the MNR taken to promote ecological protection and restoration in recent years, and what results have been achieved? Thank you.

Zhuang Shaoqin:

Ecosystem protection and restoration is a basic responsibility of the MNR and an essential aspect of the "two unifications," that is, unification in performing the duties of the owner of public-owned natural resource assets and unification in performing the duties of regulating the use of all territorial space and protecting and restoring ecosystems. I have also noticed that other government departments have recently introduced the achievements made in ecological protection and restoration. Today, I want to give an introduction focusing on some measures taken by the MNR. We have promoted ecological protection and restoration by following Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. In particular, we have worked according to the principle of improving governance with laws and regulations, systematic and comprehensive measures, and an emphasis on addressing the root causes of issues.

We have first strengthened overall planning in addressing the root causes of issues. As we said, the national territorial space planning outline has set the red lines for ecological conservation. All eco-areas of great significance and sensitivity have been included within the red lines, such as the national park-based nature reserve system. With the setting of the red lines, we have established a pattern for safeguarding national ecological security by constructing protective barriers for eco-security in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the important ecological areas along the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, the northeast forest belts, the sand control belts in the north, the hilly and mountainous areas in the south, and the coastal zones. At the same time, the MNR, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments have jointly issued an overall plan for major national eco-system protection and restoration projects and nine special construction plans. The plans have stated clearly that by 2035, ecological problems in not only ecological spaces, but also agricultural and urban spaces must be solved systematically. Hence, a coordinated arrangement has been made at the overall level to address the root causes of problems.

Second, we have strengthened systemic governance. According to the concept put forward by General Secretary Xi Jinping, mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands and deserts form a community of life. Instead of restoring one single element, we should take into consideration the ecosystem as a whole and conduct systemic governance of regions and drainage basins. Since the beginning of the 13th Five-Year Plan period, we have focused on the protective barriers for eco-security in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the important ecological areas along the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, the northeast forest belts, the sand control belts in the north, the hilly and mountainous areas in the south, and the coastal zones, and planned and implemented 44 projects for the systemic conservation and restoration of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts, with over 2 million hectares having been treated and restored. At the same time, by focusing on areas where mineral resources are concentrated, especially areas covered by national major regional development strategies, such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze Economic Belt, and the Yellow River basin, we have carried out ecological conservation and restoration of mines with restored areas reaching 280,000 hectares. We have also taken further steps to launch actions such as the Blue Bay environmental improvement initiative, protection and restoration of coastal belts, and protection and restoration of mangrove forests. A total of 1,500 kilometers of coastlines and 30,000 hectares of coastal wetlands have been restored. In addition, we have also promoted ecological restoration in rural areas by launching comprehensive land improvement in holistic approaches, contributing to rural revitalization.

Third, we have been committed to comprehensive governance. We have established new mechanisms for ecological conservation and restoration. In particular, we have rolled out policies for encouraging and supporting the participation of nongovernmental capital in protecting and restoring ecosystems. New incentive mechanisms and policies, as well as new models of investment and financing, have been adopted to attract the participation of nongovernmental capital. At the same time, we have carried out the reform of the natural resource assets property rights system in a coordinated way to promote the realization of the value of ecological products. Other relevant policies have been issued, such as management policies for drawing red lines for protecting the ecosystems, designating permanent basic cropland, and delineating boundaries for urban development in the "three types of territorial spaces and three types of control lines" to reflect the idea of prioritizing ecological conservation. There are also policies focusing on coastal reclamation activities and land greening programs. All these policies are expected to arouse the enthusiasm of the whole society to promote comprehensive governance of the ecological environment.

Fourth, we have been committed to law-based governance. New advances have been made in the rule of law in the protection and restoration of ecosystems. Over the years, we have carried out formulation and revision of the Law on Development and Protection of Territorial Space, the Law on the Planning of Territorial Space, the Law on Nature Reserves, the Law on National Parks, and laws and regulations related to land, forests, grasslands, wetlands, farmlands, and minerals, providing strong legal support for ecological conservation and restoration.

In short, over the years, we have acted upon the guiding principles of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and carried out institutional reforms from the above aspects, laying a sound foundation for eco-environmental construction. Thank you.

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