On the afternoon of August 26, 2022, Dr. Zhou Jinfeng, Secretary General of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), participated in the online discussion on the topic: Is It Worth the Loss of Draining the Lake to Round up Strange Fish - Alligator Gar(Atractosteus spatula) in the Red Star News Live Room.
In this live broadcast, three guests participated in the discussion: Dr. Zhou Jinfeng, Secretary-General of CBCGDF, Dr. Gu Dangen, a post-scientist in the prevention and control of alien species in the modern agricultural industry technology system (bulk freshwater fish system), and Zhou Zhuocheng, deputy director of the China Fisheries Association's Native Water Biology and Water Ecology Committee.
During the discussion, Dr. Zhou Jinfeng talked about the most direct impact of invasive alien species, taking Alligator Gar as an example.
Dr. Zhou Jinfeng pointed out that from the perspective of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the alligator gar is a wild species, but it is not an endangered species. America is its original habitat, and its appearance in China was caused by human introduction.
The most direct impact of alien species invasion is the impact on our living environment. For example, if there are alligator gars in the lake, it will bring disaster to the local aquatic lives. There is a natural balance among aquatic creatures. In this case, the alligator gar is an ecological destroyer for the local area. Of course, we know that the ecological environment in our lives provide us with cultural and ecological values, and is indispensable for our life. This is the pervasive impact of invasive alien species on our lives.
Specifically, different invasive species will have different effects. For example, the pine wood nematode disease caused by a major alien invasive species (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) brings a large number of trees in the forest to death, and also affects the ecosystem. It has a direct and significant impact on the production and life process. Seemingly insignificant for each individual, their rapid cumulative effects ultimately have a major impact on our overall quality of life.
Finally, Dr. Zhou thanked the host and the Red Star Live Room, and thanked all the viewers who participated in today's event. He would like to take this precious opportunity to appeal to all.
Human civilization has entered an era of drastic changes. The ecological crisis brought to us by industrial civilization today is a major change unseen in a century, in a thousand years, or even in 65 million years. This drastic change in ecology requires that we must re-open a whole new civilization. We cannot be influenced by the economic interests of some industries. We must protect ecological environment required by ecological civilization. Ecological environment is nature, including mountains, water, lakes, fields, sand, ice, oceans, and so on. Ecological environment is the nature we depend on for our survival.
We must insist on building harmony between human and nature. The worldview of our new ecological civilization thinking today is not to conquer the universe, not to make all living things serve us, but a harmonious coexistence of huamn and nature. It depends on the thinking and actions of each of us. Only in this way can we develop effectively in the new civilization. Otherwise, the three planetary crises of climate change, loss of nature and biodiversity, and pollution and waste are still ringing after many years of concerted efforts. This event got a lot of attention, and it was a very good start. I hope that everyone can further themselves from paying attention to learning, to understanding, to making choices, to start actions. Let us protect our homeland together, and make everyone's contribution to our sustainable survival and development, thank you.
(Photo：Wikipedia)
(Photo: IUCN)
Original Chinese Article: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/X8KUz66zxIpIathPCMlF_g?notreplace=true
Translator:Daisy
Checked by Sara
Editor:Maggie
Contact: v10@cbcgdf.org; +8617319454776
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