Media reports that the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape Architecture recently said that Beijing has become one of the world's most biodiversity-rich metropolises. The report mentions that "in the future, Beijing will also promote conservation projects for populations of very small species and adopt artificial expansion to enlarge populations, among others."

The dramatic loss of biodiversity is a common challenge for human society; beware especially of the blind optimism that a false sense of accomplishment can bring. Nearby - the disappearance of the habitat of the native plant watercress; the construction of the Nanyuan Wetland Park in Beijing and the Shahe Wetland Park to destroy the original biodiversity and to build a new park, all kinds of examples are in sight. Therefore, I have something to say about this recent news released by the garden-related authorities.

"The target of Beijing shall be set to stop biodiversity loss. As the world's fastest growing metropolis, 'stopping biodiversity loss' is one of the right and most important targets.

If we talk about further development goals, I suggest that Beijing carry out ecological restoration and adhere to four principles of ecological restoration based on the principle of conservation, limitation in a natural and  macro manner.

The Expanding Propagation (artificial expansion to enlarge the population) mentioned by the garden department is undoubtedly wrong. Biodiversity conservation cannot rely on this. In a megalopolis like Beijing, the core of biodiversity conservation should be neighborhood biodiversity conservation. With the rapid and massive loss of habitat in Beijing, where will the wildlife survive after the expansion? Such an approach is totally unwarranted.

The title of their article is wrong; the goal is also wrong. The target should be set to make Beijing a city, a metropolis  that "stops biodiversity loss".

Like "carbon neutrality," Beijing should strive to reach a "peak" or to "neutralize"in biodiversity loss, - to try to make the city -We should strive to make the biodiversity footprint of the city peak and neutral; we should try to erase the biodiversity footprint that should not be there; we should further restore nature, and this should be our goal in Beijing. 

Background

The task of reducing biodiversity loss is a goal that the international community has been calling for over the past decades but has not been able to achieve, and there is a long way to go.

China's report on the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) states that China is ahead of schedule in achieving many of the MDGs, except for one, namely, item 7B of the United Nations Millennium Declaration: ensuring environmental sustainability, which calls for "reducing biodiversity loss and significantly reducing the rate of biodiversity loss by 2015. The only one that did not meet the target is 7B - the seventh item of the UN Millennium Declaration: ensuring environmental sustainability, which requires "reducing biodiversity loss and significantly reducing the rate of biodiversity loss by 2015. This is the only one that China has not met, and it is the only one that all countries in the world have not met, and the rate of biodiversity loss has not been slowed down by all the efforts of the world.

Original Chinese article: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/PYIqWoMe2XnoybA49ddh8
Translator/ Lucy 
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