Recently, the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) Legal Department received reports from volunteers that e-commerce platforms such as Taobao are machines for electric shock capture of earthworms.

Merchants are blatantly claiming that "If the customers don’t catch the earthworms, they will be responsible for the return of the product." The product comment area is full of videos about electric shocks catching earthworms; within the scope of the action of the machine, earthworms large and small in the soil gradually crawl out of the soil; There was even a display of the results. The plastic buckets full of mud were densely packed with earthworms. Some people in the comment area even asked if there is a business that buys earthworms and can supply them to the other party.

The ecological function of earthworms should not be underestimated. It can loosen the soil, dig burrows, and increase the oxygen content of the soil; eat organic matter and silt, and improve the properties of the soil through the action of the digestive tract; Earthworms live in the soil, increase the humic acid of the soil, and improve sandy and barren land. There are also experimental data that show that earthworms can play a huge role in the treatment of domestic waste, especially kitchen waste, and even their feces can be used as a natural deodorant.

The CBCGDF staff found in research that although earthworms are medicinal materials of Chinese medicine, they are not included in the "National Key Protected Wild Medicinal Species List". The "Regulations on the Protection and Management of Wild Medicinal Resources" does not clearly stipulate the protection of earthworms.

However, according to the “Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on the Comprehensive Banning of Illegal Wildlife Trade, Eliminating the Bad Habits of Overeating Wild Animals, and Effectively Protecting the People’s Life, Health and Safety” made in the context of COVID-19, stipulates that "the hunting, trading, and transportation of terrestrial wild animals that naturally grow and reproduce in the wild environment for the purpose of food are completely prohibited." It is the protection of earthworms from the perspective of purpose and use.

The place of infringement in the environmental public interest litigation (EPIL) was in Guangdong Province. According to the "Guangdong Province Wildlife Protection and Management Regulations": "It is prohibited to use poisons, explosives, electric shocks, electronic traps, hunting kits, hunting clips, air guns, ground guns, platoons, sticky nets, ground bows, hanging bars, wire sets and other tools to hunt wild animals." This is the protection of earthworms from the perspective of capture methods, that is, illegal hunting of terrestrial wild animals is prohibited.

The case has now been submitted to the court. CBCGDF became the first social welfare organization to file a lawsuit for earthworms. People will wait and see what the outcome will be.

Original Chinese article:

http://www.cbcgdf.org/NewsShow/4857/13310.html

By / Liu Xiling (Volunteer) Modified / Maggie

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http://www.cbcgdf.org/English/ConfirmDonaTion/0.html