We have been reported that massive earthworm-electrifying is taking place. A machine plugged in the soil, and the worms come out after a few buttons push. We looked this up in the E-commerce platform; many were selling this, from a few dozen RMB to hundreds RMB, some claiming to return in full if it doesn't work.

Is this ok? We all know that earthworm is a vital element of the soil ecosystem. Fertilization, porosity, the microenvironment it produces, it's contributing in a lot of ways. When President Xi visited Siping recently, he made a very apt analogy. The black soil is the panda for the land.

On the one hand, it's as precious as pandas. On the other hand, it also deserves tender care like pandas. Recently, the National People's Congress has also opened a significant inspection for the destruction and pollution of land.

This should answer my previous question. And then comes the next question that is this act illegal or not?

As you know, the new Environmental Protection Act states that any person/entity must protect our ecological environment. The land is an essential environmental content of our ecosystem, and earthworms are important ecological content of the land. We're not talking about picking up a worm or two in the ground; it's about a specific e-commerce platform that has more than 600 kinds of electric earthworm machines for you to choose from on sale.

What does this mean? We randomly checked a retailer, and thousands of machines have been sold.

This is a mass, industrial, exterminating culling. This is a situation where they are fundamentally and destructively damaging the ecology, to the soil. We have filed an environmental public interest lawsuit against this.

Who are the defendants? First, the ones using the machines. These are the ones who are most directly responsible for destroying the ecology of the soil. Who else? The companies and individuals who purchase worm-related products. Then we go upstream, as the companies that produce these machines should be held responsible as well. It is the most significant, most important, "bull's-eye" way to stop the ecological destruction.

We have recently initiated environmental public interest litigation in the Zhuhai Central Court against three of the vermicompost manufacturers. We have also included the e-commerce companies that sell these products as third parties in the lawsuit.

We know that e-commerce has a credit system to promote and protect consumer rights. But why have e-commerce related actions achieved no organic results? We feel that the E-Commerce Act needs to be amended and e-commerce companies should take serious responsibility for themselves By using their credit system and putting proper controls on account holders, they can prevent this type of behavior from happening, but they have not done that yet.

And relevant law should be fixed too, breaking the old mindset of "Industries barriers." In the definition of ecosystems, such as those related to desert and grassland, do not include insects and other animals. This is a grave error. It should consist of not only earthworms but also insects, who have a range of functions such as pollination and are an essential part of the ecosystem.

No animals in the wetland system either. The focus is still on the traditional concepts of soil and grass. If we are limited to such a position when defining ecosystems and related conservation actions, we will not be able to protect our ecosystems. Therefore, we hope that the relevant departments, when making regulations, will conduct more research, invite biodiversity experts to participate, consider more for the ecosystem, and include all these aspects of ecological damage into the management of the behavior. Only in this way can our land be genuinely protected.

From a systemic perspective, we need to go deeper and get everyone to start acting. The earthworm lawsuit is a new symbol of environmental public interest litigation. Hopefully, it will set a benchmark, a model, and a reminder to all involved that we are serious about protecting the ecosystem we live in. It will take every one of us to do so. 

(This article is based on recording and has not been verified by the speaker himself.)

(Photo source: Internet)

Original Chinese article:

http://www.cbcgdf.org/NewsShow/4854/13409.html

By / Zhang Daqian

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