Photo taken on May 16, 2019 shows the scenery of Dajiu Lake (nine lakes) wetland in Shennongjia, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Liu Lianfen)
China has played a prominent role in the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity, a part of the UN environment program, the convention's Acting Executive Secretary Elizabeth Maruma Mrema said Thursday.
China has carried out a series of effective actions to conserve biodiversity and achieved remarkable results, said Mrema, ahead of the International Day for Biological Diversity which falls on Friday.
China has met the Aichi Biodiversity Targets of protecting 17 percent of terrestrial areas ahead of schedule, she said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.
"Some species have come back after years of being gone. Significant progress has been made in wildlife protection," she said.
The secretary also spoke highly of the Chinese concept of ecological civilization. "China has also demonstrated its determination and action by adopting legislation to completely ban the illegal hunting, trading, transport, and consumption of wild animals," she said.
The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity will be held in Kunming, China, with the theme of "Ecological Civilization: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth."
The conference of the parties is the governing body of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and advances implementation of the convention through the decisions it takes at its periodic meetings.
Mrema said the meeting is a very important milestone in the history of the biodiversity convention, as representatives from the convention parties, international, regional, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector will meet to reach an agreement on a new framework for action for the next decade, put the world on track to achieve the Vision 2050 of living in harmony with nature and align its targets with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
