Great pressure on Wetland Protection in China

Remote sensing monitoring is more accurate and objective and is internationally recognized.

"compared with the traditional monitoring technology, remote sensing satellite technology has obvious advantages such as macro, dynamic, fast, real-time and accurate, especially to avoid the interference of human factors to the maximum extent and ensure independence, transparency and objectivity. It has become an indispensable technical means for dynamic monitoring of the global ecological environment." Guo Huadong, head of the expert group on global eco-environmental remote sensing monitoring and director of the Institute of remote Sensing and Digital Earth of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told reporters that China's global eco-environmental monitoring capacity has been significantly improved in recent years. "We actively participate in the study of global eco-environmental issues of common concern to the international community from a global perspective. It fully demonstrates the positive attitude and unique contribution of China's remote sensing science and technology circles to serving human society, dealing with global climate change, and solving global eco-environmental problems. "

According to researcher Li Jiahong, chief engineer of the National remote Sensing Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology, over the past three years, China's global ecological environment remote sensing monitoring has not only aroused widespread concern in China, but also been highly appraised by international counterparts. The total number of downloads of related data sets released at the same time with the report exceeded 600000.

On the basis of the annual reports in 2012 and 2013, the National remote Sensing Center took the lead in organizing the Institute of remote Sensing and Digital Earth of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, the Institute of Resource Information of the Chinese Academy of Forestry Sciences, the China Research Institute of Water Conservancy and Hydropower, the National Satellite Meteorological Center and the China Resources Satellite Tencent App Center, and completed the compilation of the 2014 Annual report.

Five internationally important wetlands, including Shenhu in Hubei and Yancheng in Jiangsu, are greatly affected by economic activities.

As a new addition, the topic "large Wetlands of International importance" includes wetlands, an indicator of great ecological function and service value, into the annual report for the first time. "this is the first time in the world to use satellite remote sensing technology to monitor and analyze large-scale internationally important wetlands on a global scale, reflecting China's outstanding contribution to the protection of internationally important wetlands, and has been highly appraised by Wetlands International organizations." Shi Jiancheng, director of the State key Laboratory of remote Sensing Science, said.

It is reported that using satellite remote sensing data, the report objectively evaluates the status and changes of 100 large internationally important wetlands in the world in 2001 and 2013, as well as 20 in China: from 2001 to 2013, the area of 100 large internationally important wetlands in the world remained stable (reduced by less than 1%). However, some wetlands such as the Danube Delta in Romania in Europe, Chiquita Lake in Argentina in South America, Lake Urmiye in Iran in Asia and Lake Chad in Chad in Africa are seriously disturbed and degraded.

What is the ecological status of wetlands in China? The 2014 Annual report points out that although China has made great efforts in wetland protection in recent years, due to population, resources and environmental pressures, China's internationally important wetlands face higher pressures and threats than the global average.

Up to now, 46 wetlands in China have been listed in the list of International Wetlands of importance, all of which are nature reserves. The report assesses and analyzes the area change, landscape integrity and disturbance / degradation of 20 of these wetlands of international importance. The results show that the area of wetlands in most protected areas has not changed significantly from 2001 to 2013. However, the number of wetlands in the Nan Weng River Reserve in Heilongjiang Province has decreased by about 8000 hectares, accounting for about 3.5% of the reserve area, while the total area of Dalai Lake wetlands in Inner Mongolia has been reduced by more than 20, 000 hectares, accounting for about 3.5% of the reserve area. It is worth noting that due to the economic activities such as paddy field cultivation, aquaculture and dam construction in the reserve, the disturbance or degradation of five internationally important wetlands, including Chenghu in Hubei, Yancheng in Jiangsu, Dongtan in Chongming in Shanghai, Zhenbao Island in Heilongjiang and Dongfanghong in Heilongjiang, are still at a high level.

"Wetlands have a variety of ecological functions, such as protecting biodiversity, regulating and storing floods, purifying water quality, regulating climate, and maintaining ecological balance. The economic benefits brought by constructed wetlands are at the expense of ecological value." Shi Jiancheng said, for example, natural wetlands are usually migratory habitats for birds. After turning into paddy fields, due to the decrease of biodiversity and other reasons, birds cannot live here. "compared with economic benefits, ecological benefits are recessive and long-term. Once lost, it is difficult to recover, and its negative effects and losses are difficult to estimate. Therefore, before the development of wetlands, we must make a comprehensive assessment of its long-term impact, not just focus on short-term economic benefits.

Professor Gong Peng, director of the Earth system Science Research Center of Tsinghua University, said, "with the development of our country today, it is time to protect and restore wetlands. Green water and green mountains are also Jinshan and Silver Mountains, especially with the improvement of national living standards and the increasing demand for tourism and entertainment, protecting wetlands can also produce economic benefits-Xixi Wetland in Hangzhou is a typical example. "

Global winter wheat is growing well in 2014 and 2015, and China's winter wheat is expected to increase production.

According to Guo Huadong, following the previous year's focus on the production of major grain and oil crops, this year monitored the cultivation of corn, rice, wheat and soybeans in the world's main producing areas in 2014.

According to the 2014 Annual report, the total global output of corn, rice, wheat and soybeans reached 2.764 billion tons in 2014, an increase of 1.2% over the same period last year, of which the output of corn and rice was basically the same, while the output of wheat and soybean was better than that of the previous year. China's total output of staple grain and oil crops in 2014 was basically the same as that in 2013 In 2014, the global supply situation of staple grain and oil crops was good, the production situation of China's soybean import source countries was optimistic, and the output of corn, rice and wheat import source countries decreased slightly.

At the same time, the global winter wheat grew well in 2014 and 2015, only in Ukraine and some parts of neighboring Russia; the crop growth in the main winter wheat producing areas in China was better than last year and the average of the past five years, while the planting area increased slightly. If the agrometeorological conditions before winter wheat harvest are normal, winter wheat is expected to increase production.

China has carried out remote sensing monitoring of Africa for the first time, and monitored the ecological environment of China-ASEAN region for the first time in the world.

According to Gong Peng, the 2014 Annual report has established the latest African land cover database based on a variety of satellite remote sensing data.

The monitoring results show that the largest proportion of land cover in Africa is bare land, scrub, grassland and forest. During the period from 2000 to 2014, the area of farmland in the Nile basin in Egypt increased by 11.19%. With the continuous growth of population around Lake Victoria, the artificial land cover dominated by cities increased by 143.97%. Grassland vegetation is growing in most areas of the Sahel.

"Africa is a region with relatively rapid population growth and economic development in the future, so it is very important to strike a balance between economic development and ecological protection." Gong Peng said that it is hoped that China's monitoring results will help them better achieve sustainable development.

Remote sensing monitoring of the ecology of China-ASEAN region shows that there are significant differences in the spatial distribution of eco-environmental elements in this region. ASEAN countries have a good ecological environment and are rich in ecological resources but have great differences in per capita share. The region is rich in forest resources, and China has the highest total forest biomass, accounting for 41% of the total. The annual carbon sequestration capacity of forests in the whole region is nearly 2 billion tons, and forest deforestation and forest fires have a significant impact on forest carbon sequestration capacity; the overall intensity of agricultural production is high, and the planting proportion of most cultivated land is more than 95%.