[Case 3] From the perspective of light pollution, discuss how urban planning should promote green design.

On April 5th, CBCGDF received a volunteer report that in a community in Changping District, Beijing, there is a building made with a glass wall. A large glass exterior wall reflects the real sky, allowing the birds to take the scene in the mirror seriously. They flew towards the wall and hit the wall and died. In the video sent from the volunteer, the dead birds’ bodies fell from the air, very tragic. After CBCGDF reflected to the relevant department, soon got a response. At present, the glass wall building has been covered with cloth.

Comments:

A small glass building blocks a small-scale "ecological corridor". Every year, a large number of birds around the world are killed and injured by the impact of the glass facade of the building. Although birds have extraordinary vision, it is difficult to recognize the presence of glass, especially during fast flight. It is recommended that in urban planning and architectural design practice, green design should be emphasized to reduce light pollution.

[Case 4] From the abuse of encapsulated seed, etc., explore how to promote bird-friendly agriculture.

At the end of March this year, a farmer volunteer from Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province reported to CBCGDF that she found that in some rural areas, someone specifically purchased the pesticide Carbofuran to make encapsulated seeds for poisoning wild birds. She hopes that relevant parties will attach great importance to and recommend improvements in agricultural practices.

Comments:

The encapsulated seed is a seed made by uniformly coating a layer of medicine film on the surface of the seed with pesticides, fungicides and film-forming agents according to a certain ratio. It has the effects of high germination rate, prevention and control of seedling diseases and insect pests, and yield increase. However, such seeds may cause fatal damage to wild birds, especially raptors.

Over the past half century, there has been widespread use of pesticides worldwide, resulting in a general decline in the number of insects and biodiversity. Even so, the conservation of bird biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems has not received enough attention. China is a large agricultural country, and there are a large number of birds in the vast fields. They are an important part of biodiversity and play an important role in controlling pests. This kind of biological control can greatly reduce the extra capital investment and play a good role in catching food from insects. However, there is a gap in the protection of bird habitats.

In recent years, China has paid more and more attention to the issue of green practices in agriculture and has continuously introduced new relevant policies and regulations. However, the emphasis on birds is still insufficient. For example, the agricultural department deploys pest prevention and control every spring, but rarely mentions "protecting birds". In March this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued the "Key Points for Green Development of Agriculture and Rural Areas in 2020" mentioned the continued promotion of pesticide reduction and harm control, and biological control, but did not mention the protection of birds. In view of this, it is recommended to incorporate bird protection into agricultural-friendly practices as an important measure for the conservation of agricultural biodiversity, and to achieve cross-sectoral linkage.

[Case 5] From the trade of wild birds as ornamental pets, discuss how to strictly investigate illegal wild captures.

On March 28, a wildlife conservation volunteer team in Heilongjiang Province discovered that a mobile bird market in Daowai District of Harbin City sold wild birds. It is understood that this bird market is the largest bird market in Heilongjiang Province. According to some reports, wild birds illegally captured in Harbin and across the province are traded there, especially on weekends.

Comments:

In February 2020, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress issued the “Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Comprehensively Prohibiting the Trading of Illegal Wild Animals, Eliminating the Abuse of Overeating Wild Animals, and Effectively Protecting People's Health and Safety”. There are media reports that some bird market transactions for wild birds have turned to underground, and many transactions are completed online, and offline only for pickup. Some mobile bird markets have been banned repeatedly, making law enforcement difficult.

If birds treated as pets are caught from the wild, there is no doubt that it will cause damage to the ecosystem. For example, at the beginning of this year, the Science and Technology Daily reported the locust disaster that broke out in many countries, pointed out that human damage to the environment is one of the causes of the locust disasters. In the article, an expert pointed out: "Lark is a natural enemy of locusts on the grasslands, but with the large-scale killing of larks by humans and the negative impact on grassland ecology, the larks are on the verge of extinction. The key elements of the ecological chain are missing in this way, the locusts will be free from natural enemies and will breed freely. "

However, the lark has become the darling of the bird market because of its loud singing. Regarding the ecological cost behind the prosperity of the bird market, the famous ornithologist Dr. Su Liying pointed out bluntly: "In the process of being caught, transported, raised, and sold, wild birds and wild animals have a very high mortality rate. The bird you see in a cage is often the only survivor among 100 wild birds."

(Photo credit: Kai Pflug)

Zhou Jinfeng is the Secretary-General of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), Linda is the Deputy Secretary-General of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF).

The original title "Thoughts and Suggestions on the Practice of Bird Protection in Spring 2020", this article has been revised.

Source: "China Ecological Civilization" Magazine, Issue 2, 2020

Original Chinese article:

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/B4ZMlens9lD8qGprZAg9tg

By / Maggie