Some 50 Chinese and German scientists jointly issued a Changsha Declaration, at an international workshop on functionality mapping for the Yangtze wetlands. The Declaration appeals to protect ecological functionality of the Yangtze wetlands, in an attempt to restore the wetlands?¯ vitality.
The Declaration states that as the first largest river in China, and the third largest river in the world, the Yangtze River has nurtured vast wetland strips. These wetlands have played important ecological roles in maintaining ecological balance, nourishing original sources, modulating floods, purifying water, regulating climate, supporting biodiversity, and beautifying environment. Unfortunately, the fast economic development, and increasingly denser population, and economic activities have seriously jeopardized ecological functionalities, imposing huge pressures and threats on the natural ecosystem of the wetlands.
The Declaration appeals to enhance public awareness and understanding, increasing their consciousness to protect wetlands. It also asks to map ecological functions for different wetlands, defining directions for protecting, utilizing, and managing diverse wetlands. Among other appeals are handling the relationship between economic functions and ecological functions on a scientific basis, realigning industrial structures, production modalities and ways of living in the valley, strictly controlling and curbing wetland water contamination, establishing a mechanism to coordinate government agencies at different levels, setting up a unified coordination organization for wetland management, strengthening legislations for wetland protection, evaluating the impacts of major hydraulic projects on wetland ecosystem, enhancing international cooperation and exchanges in the field of wetland utilization, and establishing a China-German joint mechanism to study wetland ecosystem. |
