Eco-Environmental Red Lines

Eco-Environmental Red Lines

Eco-environmental red lines protect those regions that must be strictly protected because of their important ecological functions. These include regions with such ecological functions as water source conservation, biodiversity maintenance, water and soil conservation, windbreak and sand-fixation, and coastal ecological stability, along with environmentally sensitive and fragile regions which are prone to soil erosion, sandification, stony desertification and salinization.

These red lines are the lifelines of national ecological security. They also serve territorial space planning. Drawing and enforcing such red lines is an important means of implementing the systems of functional zoning and controlling use of ecological space. They are effective in helping increase the supply of eco-goods and ecosystem services, and build up China's ecological security. As an institutional innovation, they can also boost China's progress toward an eco-civilization and promote its green development.

The central authorities in February 2017 issued a document on drawing and enforcing the red lines for the protection of the ecosystems, so as to manage all major environmental spaces with consistent standards. In May of the same year, guidelines were released for local governments on how to define red lines. The report to the CPC's 19th National Congress in October 2017 set the task of completing the preparation of red lines.

By 2020, China had finished drawing these red lines. The protected regions account for more than 25 percent of national land territory, and these include key ecological functional zones, environmentally sensitive and fragile regions, and key areas of biological diversity.

生态保护红线

生态保护红线，即在生态空间范围内具有特殊重要生态功能、必须强制性严格保护的区域，通常包括具有重要水源涵养、生物多样性维护、水土保持、防风固沙、海岸生态稳定等功能的生态功能重要区域，以及水土流失、土地沙化、石漠化、盐渍化等生态环境敏感脆弱区域。生态保护红线是保障和维护国家生态安全的底线和生命线，也是构建国土空间布局体系的基础。划定并严守生态保护红线，是贯彻落实主体功能区制度、实施生态空间用途管制的重要举措，是提高生态产品供给能力和生态系统服务功能、构建国家生态安全格局的有效手段，是健全生态文明制度体系、推动绿色发展的有力保障，也是中国生态保护的制度创新。

2017年2月，中共中央办公厅、国务院办公厅印发《关于划定并严守生态保护红线的若干意见》，提出按照山水林田湖系统保护的要求，划定并严守生态保护红线，实现一条红线管控重要生态空间。同年5月，环境保护部办公厅、国家发展和改革委员会办公厅印发《生态保护红线划定指南》，指导划定全国和各省（区、市）生态保护红线。中共十九大报告进一步明确要求，完成生态保护红线划定工作。

到2020年，全国生态保护红线划定工作基本完成，初步划定的全国生态保护红线面积比例不低于陆域国土面积的25%，覆盖了重点生态功能区、生态环境敏感区和脆弱区，覆盖了全国生物多样性分布的关键区域。