The 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) was held in Kunming, Yunnan province from October 11 to 15. Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the 15th Summit of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity via video and delivered a keynote speech. Xi announced that China will take the lead in setting up the Kunming Biodiversity Fund with 1.5 billion yuan to support biodiversity conservation in developing countries. At the closing ceremony of the first phase of COP15, Chinese NGO representatives delivered a speech, reading out the consensus of the NGO Parallel Forum and the proposal for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. Representatives also mentioned the first agency firstly commitment over the next 10 years to the global biodiversity conservation invested about 2.55 billion yuan, in China and the world to carry out the key species and their habitat protection, ecological restoration, and promote the development of about 10 million hectares of protected area to improve efficiency of protection, green ecological economy, etc, the response of kunming biodiversity funds. Lao Niu Foundation participates in commitments and initiatives.
In addition to participating in commitments and initiatives, Lao Niu Foundation participated in the theme forum of the NGO Parallel Forum and shared relevant views, cases and actions.
Roundtable dialogue on the role of civil Society in non-State financial Contributions
In this session, An Yaqiang discussed with representatives of organizations/institutions from South America, Europe, Southeast Asia, The Paradise Foundation, Tencent, women and youth to discuss their respective cutting-edge ideas and specific actions.
An Yaqiang shared the Foundation’s action and plan in wetland protection. In 2014, Lao Niu Foundation in cooperation with the International Wetland Convention Implementation Office of the People's Republic of China, Paulson Institute and the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, launched a strategic research project on the protection and management of Coastal wetlands in China.
In October 2015, the project released a Strategic Study on The Protection and Management of Coastal Wetlands in China, which put forward six main conclusions and suggestions. One of them is that large-scale reclamation and the main reason for the sharp decline of coastal wetlands in China, which requires effective measures to resolutely curb. In July 2018, The State Council issued the Notice on Strengthening the Protection of Coastal Wetlands and Strictly controlling reclamation, which is also recognition of the achievements of the project. In addition, 107 important coastal wetlands (including waterbird habitats, coastal mollusk habitats, mangroves, seagrass beds and other representative ecosystems) have not yet been included in the protection system. After the release of the results it has been effectively protected.
In order to further implement the main conclusions and recommendations of the Strategic Study on The Protection and Management of Coastal Wetlands in China, the foundation successively launched the Strategic Study on the Protection and Restoration of Mangroves in China and the Data Set of Coastal Waterbirds and Their Habitats in China in 2017. To promote the protection of Coastal wetlands in China, we have promoted the establishment of the Wuyuan River Wetland Protection Area in Haikou, the first wetland type public protection area co-managed by the government and public welfare organizations and located in the city center.
In September 2021, under the guidance of the Wetland Department of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the Lao Niu Foundation and the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences launched a wetland protection Strategy and Priority action in the Yellow River Basin. We hope to contribute to the wetland protection rate from 52% to 55% during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. In October 2021, the CPC Central Committee and The State Council issued the Outline of the Yellow River Basin Ecological Protection and High-quality Development Plan, which further pointed out the direction for the implementation of the project.
Nature-based solutions -- Discussion of funding mechanisms and practices
The ongoing global biodiversity crisis, increasingly scarce fresh water resources, unstable food supplies and increasing energy demand force humanity to improve its ability to cope and maintain global climate stability. Nature-based solutions (NbS) are the answer to these crises. Since 2010, the Foundation has incorporated NbS concepts into environmental protection projects and carried out relevant practices based on the two dimensions of climate change and adaptation. Taking the ecological restoration and protection project of Lao Niu Foundation as an example, An Yaqiang shared with us how to apply NbS systematic thinking in planning, design, implementation and management during a complete project cycle.
Under the theme of "Ecological Civilization: Building a Community for Life on Earth", COP15 will comprehensively review global experience in biodiversity conservation, formulate a post-2020 global biodiversity framework and draw up a blueprint for global biodiversity governance in the next decade. In line with the values of "planting trees and nurturing people", the Lao Niu Foundation is also willing to work with all sectors of society to promote the global biodiversity conservation in the decade after 2020 and contribute to the building of a community for life on earth.
