On February 4th, in response to the nationwide outbreak of pneumonia caused by a new type of coronavirus in Wuhan, Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Justice issued the Regulations of Tianjin Municipal People’s Government on Strengthening Wildlife Management (hereinafter referred to as the “Regulations on Wildlife Management”) to strengthen the management of wildlife in the city and solicited public opinions.

China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) has long been concerned about biodiversity conservation and committed to promoting green development, as well as the protection and management of wildlife in China. Tianjin is located in the northeast of the North China Plain, bordering the Bohai Sea in the East. It is the economic center of the Bohai Sea area in China, and also an important transit station for migratory birds in China due to the numerous rivers, seas, and wetlands. Its ecological status, ecological value, as well as the protection and management of corresponding wildlife and its habitat are very important.

As for the revision of the “Regulations on Wildlife Management” in Tianjin, the Two Sessions suggested that Tianjin should first try to ban urban wildlife trading places and bird markets, and increase cooperation with scientific research institutions and social organizations before the revision of the National Wildlife Protection Law, strengthen the dynamic monitoring of the city's wildlife resources, and publish in real-time eight suggestions, such as “actively explore the ecological compensation for the actual wildlife”.

At present, relevant suggestions of CBCGDF have been submitted to the Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Justice. The eight suggestions are as follows:

1. Article 5 (3) strengthen the supervision of the artificial breeding of wild animals, investigate and deal with relevant illegal acts according to law, and strengthen the monitoring of epidemic focus and disease of wild animals.

It is suggested that after “strengthening the supervision of captive-breeding activities of wild animals”, “establishing a monthly account of captive-breeding activities of wild animals and making them public” should be added.

2. Article 5 (4) strictly examine and approve the matters of wildlife operation and utilization following the law, and strengthen the supervision on the matters of administrative license in the process and afterward.

It is suggested that after “strictly examining and approving the business and utilization of wild animals following the law”, add “especially strictly controlling the application for additional artificial domestication and breeding”; after “strengthen the supervision on the matters of administrative license in the process and afterward”, add “when conditions are mature, take the lead in canceling the management and utilization of wild animals in an all-round way”.

3. For Article 5, it is suggested to add a new article, which can be placed after the original article 2. That is to add “cooperation with scientific research institutions and social organizations, strengthen the dynamic monitoring of the city’s wildlife resources, and publish in real-time”.

4. Article 7: the market supervision department shall perform the following duties according to law. It is suggested to add a second article, (2) to ban all urban wildlife trading places and bird markets.

5. Article 9: the public security organ shall perform the following duties according to law. It is suggested to add (3): set up a special group to receive reports from the masses, strengthen the investigation and punishment of illegal online poaching, sale, poaching equipment, illegal trade, etc., and the crackdown on criminal cases of online wildlife resources.

6. Article 15: the education department is responsible for organizing schools to educate students on wildlife protection knowledge, strengthen students’ awareness of wildlife protection and ecological civilization construction, and educate and guide students to develop civilized and healthy eating habits. It is suggested that the last sentence should be changed to “educate and guide students and society to form a civilized and healthy eating habit of not eating wild animals”.

7. Article 16: the financial department shall be responsible for providing fund guarantee for wildlife management according to law and include the required funds into the financial budget. It is suggested that after “the financial department shall be responsible for providing fund guarantee for wildlife management according to the law”, add “actively explore and implement the ecological compensation system for wildlife”.

8. Article 26: The Department responsible for wildlife management shall publicize the reporting telephone number, encourage the public to report the illegal and criminal acts, and commend and reward the relevant departments if the reports are verified to be true. It is suggested that after “encourage the public to report the illegal and criminal acts”, add “encourage cooperation with environmental protection organizations and other organizations to set up special report processing channels, and quickly crackdown on the destruction of wildlife and habitats, such as bird nets, poisoning, poaching, etc.”

Original Chinese article:

http://www.cbcgdf.org/NewsShow/4854/11304.html

By / Xue Tongtong