China records 'substantial progress' on global biodiversity targets

China has made substantial progress in 21 out of the 27 targets set by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, putting them on track to be achieved by 2030, according to the country's 7th National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

While considerable progress has been made on the six other targets, significantly intensified efforts are required to reach the 2030 benchmark, the report noted.

China has fully delineated its ecological conservation redlines, which have encircled over 30 percent of the country's land area, covering more than 90 percent of typical ecosystem types and 74 percent of State-protected wildlife populations, it said.

A preliminary framework of a national park-based nature reserve system has been established, with five national parks officially designated, it said. Protected areas now account for roughly 18 percent of China's terrestrial land area.

The report highlighted encouraging results in the recovery of China's rare and endangered species. The wild giant panda population has increased from about 1,100 in the 1980s to nearly 1,900 today. The crested ibis, meanwhile, which numbered only seven when rediscovered in 1981, has grown to 11,000 worldwide.

More than 200 rare and endangered wild animal species, including the Asian elephant and the Hainan gibbon, have entered a phase of restorative growth. In addition, over 100 species of endangered wild plants have received emergency conservation interventions.

To date, the China-initiated Kunming Biodiversity Fund has supported 22 projects across 34 developing countries, bolstering global conservation efforts, according to the report.

China announced that it would take the lead by investing 1.5 billion yuan ($220.7 million) to establish the fund in October 2021.

Adopted at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in late 2022 under China's presidency, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework has four long-term goals for 2050 and 23 action-oriented global targets over the decade to 2030.

The framework, for instance, aims to ensure that by 2030 at least 30 percent of areas of degraded terrestrial, inland water, and marine and coastal ecosystems are under effective restoration.

It also vowed to ensure and enable that by 2030 at least 30 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas, and of marine and coastal areas are effectively conserved and managed through ecologically representative, well-connected and equitably governed systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures.