The Ramsar CEPA for Wetland Conservation Forum, a themed parallel session of the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP14), was held yesterday afternoon in Wuhan and online, with participants from various cities including Shenzhen and Beijing.
The forum, centering on wetlands action for people and nature, is one of the two themed COP14 parallel sessions that Shenzhen Mangrove Wetlands Conservation Foundation (MCF) has jointly organized.
Another themed parallel session spotlighting global mangroves was held in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday.
Nearly 100 representatives from governments of different countries, international institutions, nongovernmental organizations and enterprises attended the session in Geneva.
China will build an international mangrove center in Shenzhen, President Xi Jinping said in a speech via video at the opening ceremony of COP14 on Saturday.
Hu Yuanhui, deputy head of the international cooperation office of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said at the parallel session Monday that the local government and related institutions have prepared funds for the center’s operation. The center will enhance ties with other global and regional mangrove initiatives and conduct cooperative actions, according to Hu.
Lei Guangchun, board chair of MCF, said that MCF has actively joined in mangrove protection and exchanges at home and abroad. Futian Mangrove Nature Reserve is of international importance and Shenzhen is a globally connected city. Lei believes that the international mangrove center in Shenzhen will provide huge convenience and support to the global mangrove conservation.
During the forum yesterday, invited guests shared China’s experiences and practices regarding wetland education and protection, wetland protection cases, and international reports and strategies on the matter.
The China Wetland Center’s action plan was also officially launched at the forum yesterday. It was jointly initiated by the wetland protection and management office of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the Society of Entrepreneurs & Ecology (SEE) and MCF.
The plan includes establishing a wetland education development system, building an exchange platform and promoting the building of the wetland education demonstration base.