CBCGDF Wrote an Official Letter to ByteDance, the Parent Company of TikTok App: Digital Platforms Should Not Transmit Wrong Messages, Should Spread Positive Energy | The Current Severe Destruction of the CCA for Relic Gulls at Tianjin is Getting Worse, TikTok Has Responsibility
2019/5/17 10:01:00 本站

In the past few days, the police departments of the Public Security Bureau of Binhai New Area of Tianjin, China, have jointly acted with the police, traffic control, border defense and other police departments to carry out advocacy in the tidal flat of the Eight Diagrams Beach (Baguatan) in Binhai New Area, and fully urged tourists not to dig out and take away the clams there, so as not to affect the endangered bird species that live there. The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city's Baguatan is an important home for survival for the national first-class protected animal relic gulls known as the "big pandas in the birds", and many other birds such as the black-billed gulls and the oriental white storks. They migrate and inhabit in this tidal flat in winter and spring. The policemen in Binhai reminded the public that there are many dark pits caused by land reclamation and it is very dangerous. In this tidal flat, picking up and digging the clams will threaten people's personal safety and on the other hand will have a fatal impact on the birds that live here. Therefore, in order to survive the birds such as the relic gulls, as well as for the safety for the public and their families, please do not pick up the shellfish and clams in this tidal flat area.

 

On May 12, 2019, China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) received a report from the volunteers of the CBCGDF China Conservation Area for Relic Gulls at Tianjin (CCAfa): A wintering tidal flat for relic gulls on the west side of the Tianjin Binhai Aircraft Carrier Theme Park currently is being severely damaged by the flood of people there mining clams. This tidal flat refers to the Baguatan mentioned above.

 

Since the May Day holiday in 2019, the number of people from Tianjin and surrounding provinces and cities flood to this tidal flat, to dig clams, crabs, etc. has reached more than 2,000. These people insist on mining the clams regardless of the dissuasion of the volunteers and the situation is becoming more and more severe. In the first time, CBCGDF wrote letters to the Bureau of Fisheries of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Department of Wetlands Management of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Department of Wildlife Conservation of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Tianjin Municipal Party Committee and other relevant departments, sincerely hoping that relevant departments can pay attention to the protection of the important habitat for relic gulls in Tianjin.

 

Relic gulls (Larus relictus) is a king of endangered migratory birds. It is China’s national first-class protected animal. As of 2017, the total number of relic gulls in the world is only about 12,000.

 

According to the information currently available to CBCGDF, so many tourists who come to catch up with the sea and dig up the clams are attracted by the spread and promotion of Douyin App - or TikTok to give it its official English name, and other digital media platforms to know about this tidal flat. Many tourists are locals in Tianjin, but also a lot from Heilongjiang, Shandong and other surrounding provinces. CBCGDF noticed a short video on TikTok: Someone squatted while showing off a bucket full of clams and let the public go to the Relic Gulls Park in Tianjin Binhai New Area to "catch up with the sea." The video shows the ignorance and disregard from those who uploaded the video to damage the habitat of endangered species and destroy the local ecosystem.

 

Douyin, which translates as “vibrant sound” in English, is a music video platform and social networking app. This App is fairly impressive because it was created and developed in only 200 days and secured over 100 million users in only one year. In order to prevent the TikTok App from continuing to spread the obvious incorrect public opinion-oriented content that incites the destruction of the relic gulls’ habitat, CBCGDF has recently sent an official letter to TikTok's parent company, Beijing ByteDance Technology Co, Ltd., urging it to stop spreading this kind of video; at the same time, remind them that they should encourage volunteers to post videos with positive advocacy.

 

At present, in the sky above the tidal flat, there are not many relic gulls left, and there are about one hundred or so staying; and the waterfowls and shore birds that inhabit there are not able to fly down, hovering with a screaming to protest against the surging crowd; although very anxious, the volunteers can only use their meager strength to try to discourage the large number of greedy people.

 

The CBCGDF China Conservation Area for relic gulls at Tianjin is a valuable tidal flat in the crack. Over the years, the protection and appeal of local volunteers has given the land a chance to recuperate, but the area is also very vulnerable to devastating by the destruction. Being close to the tidal flat itself is not a problem, even a good expression of our closeness to nature, but excessively picking up clams such as shellfish, destroying their spawning grounds, and disturbing the habitat and foraging of endangered birds, is a fatal blow to the fragile ecology, and the entire tidal flat ecosystem will be severely damaged. The most heart-wrenching thing is that the spread of the internet has made this situation even worse. We are just afraid that the benthic organisms in the tidal flats will be wiped out by human beings - your table may have added a few seafood, and to humans, another cherished creature – the relic gulls will lose their precious habitat.

 

CBCGDF has to reiterate its strong appeal: we hope that digital platforms and online news media will no longer spread the related information that let the public go to the unique tidal flat in Tianjin Binhai New Area to do something to satisfy their own desires, but harm the endangered species and the important ecological environment, and seriously violate the construction of ecological civilization. The mess media should give full play to positive energy, encourage and support effective information including volunteers to protect the ecological environment and protect the habitat of the relic gulls. It is necessary to implement the ecological civilization city in communication and life.


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(Photos credit: CBCGDF)


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(Photos source: Internet)


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(Photos credit: CBCGDF)


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(Photo source: Internet)


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(Photo credit: CBCGDF)


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(Photo credit: CBCGDF CCAfa Director Wang Jianmin)


By / Niu Jingmei