On February 5, 2021, Beijing Guohuan Tsinghua Environmental Engineering Design and Research Institute organized an academic seminar on the construction of Shahe Wetland Park in Wenjin International Hotel. The theme of this seminar was to discuss the relevance of the construction of Shahe Wetland Park in the improvement of regional ecological effects. The conference was hosted by Professor Zhang Hongtao, Deputy Dean of School of Environment, Tsinghua University, and Guohuan Tsinghua Environmental Engineering Design and Research Institute, and joined by experts from College of Architecture and Landscape of Peking University, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Botany of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing Forestry University, Capital Normal University, Beijing Normal University, The Policy Research Department of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), the "Let Migratory Birds Fly" Public Welfare Group, Beijing Jinglang Ecological Technology Co., Ltd., and Beijing Water Science and Technology Institute. Together, they conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions on the ecological protection and restoration measures of the Shahe Wetland Park construction project .
During the period, Ma Yong, Deputy Secretary-General of the CBCGDF, said in his speech: the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report of the Shahe Wetland Park construction project lacked a chapter on public participation and was suspected of violating regulatory approvals; secondly, competent authority of the Shahe Wetland Park construction project was positioned to focus only on pollution control and landscape improvement, which greatly weakened the function of ecological restoration and protection; inaddition, the key points involved in the current project feasibility report are not enough and the thinking of the whole project is still on engineering, which reflects the lack of the concept of ecological civilization.
It is hoped that the relevant parties of the project can take this academic seminar as an opportunity to truly build Shahe Wetland Park into a demonstration project of a modern environmental governance system.
The following is the original speech
Landscape departments of Beijing municipality and Changping District were originally planned to attend today’s meeting, but they couldn’t make it now. I think this itself explains the problem. What is the problem? At least two: one is not paying much attention to it; after all, the necessary procedures have been passed. And the second is not dare to come. Therefore, my speech today may be a bit sharp. I won’t say much about the good aspects in the feasibility report, but there are still many problems. If the party in charge of the construction is present, I will systematically talk about the existing problems. But they are not, so, today I will mainly talk about the problems and suggestions in the Shahe Wetland Park project from three major aspects.
First, we believe that the Shahe Wetland Park construction project is suspected of violating EIA approval.
First of all, the environmental impact assessment report of the Shahe Wetland Project was approved in 2017. There was no chapter on public participation in ten chapters, and yet the Changping District Environmental Protection Bureau approved it. So this reply, in a legal sense, is suspected of violating regulations, because according to relevant regulations, EIA reports without a chapter on public participation cannot be accepted, let alone approved. I don't know how such a project can be passed? So its legitimacy is questionable.
Second, we believe that the positioning of the project is problematic. In the feasibility report, there are two cores: one is pollution control and the other is landscape improvement. But in our opinion, since it is called Shahe Wetland Park, its focus and positioning should be wetland restoration and protection as the starting point and entry point. Now, it turns out that our early designs of landscape and scenic spot are now simply scenic spots. A guest just now introduced landscape planning and 8 scenic spots. There is a big gap between the restoration and protection of wetlands and the use of wetlands' ecological functions. Under such guiding ideology, including environmental impact assessment, feasibility report and other related materials, its starting point and final purpose will inevitably be skewed and will be contrary to the concept of ecological civilization.
Thirdly, the core issues are not covered enough. Because the first two issues exist, of course the key issue of wetland’s ecological function will be ignored. For example, when it comes to biodiversity, it is not enough to talk about birds. Plants and even other animals should not have been neglected. Moreover, the project was simply positioned as a park, and a feasibility report regarded it harmless to the environment according to EIA and made it a construction project. Just now, in the previous discussion, experts on water conservancy have obviously different ideas from those on eco-environmental protection. The former group of experts were more concerned about the issue of river and lake improvement. In its 2017 EIA report, because the park project did not involve groundwater problems, the groundwater project was secured. But as Northern China is extremely water-short, its groundwater and even the entire water ecological cycle function must be one of the important issues in Shahe Wetland Park as an ecological wetland.
Second, the whole project still follows the thinking of engineering construction projects, without implementing the ecological concept.
The design of the feasibility report put too much emphasis on the traditional landscaping form, and too little stress on the nature of wetland ecological circulation system, functioned to create and transmit natural nuitrtion. Chen Jining, Minister of Ecology and Environment, came to Beijing as the mayor. I think his thinking must be different. We now talk about resolutely implementing Xi Jinping's thought of ecological civilization. Then the wetland system must be a complete, coherent and stable system. Some statements in the feasibility report mentioned this ideological principle, but there are no specific design measures. It should be said that the integration of the concept of ecological civilization is far from enough. This project is not an ecological project, and in a sense, it may be suspected of pseudo-ecological. Last year, the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology of CAS faked the environmental assessment report. We hope that such things will not happen in Beijing.
Third, it is suggested that Beijing can seize this opportunity and consider turning Shahe Wetland Park into a demonstration site for a modern environmental governance system.
The Party Central Committee and the State Council emphasized that it was necessary to adhere to a modern environmental governance system under the leadership of the Party Committee, the guidance of the government, and the participation of business entities, social organizations, and the public. However, for today’s meeting, only Party B and the third party are jointly discussing this proposal. Whether it has been adopted by the competent authority and whether it can be implemented in the end are still unknown! In order to hold today’s meeting and to better utilize the real wetland ecological attributes of Shahe Wetland Park, we have specially invited so many brilliant experts. How insightful their opinions are! why not come and listen? It seems like this: You approved the EIA in 2017, and the construction will start in March 2021. The meeting was organized 20 days before the construction. Formally, the opinions of relevant organizations and experts have been heeded and the procedures have been legalized. In fact, there is no plan to implement experts’ suggestions.
I talk about the above-mentioned three issues for both parties’ reference. Recently, the Law on Wetland Protection is soliciting opinions, and we will hold meetings to discuss it in the near future.
General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to wetland protection. He has inspected at least 5 wetlands and made a series of important instructions. He pointed out that the original ecology of wetlands is the most important. He also emphasized the four cannot (the development of tourism cannot sacrifice the ecological environment, cannot engage in excessive commercial development, cannot build some ecologically affecting buildings, and cannot build private clubs), so as to make the park a green space shared by the people. Have we implemented the instructions of the General Secretary? At present, we are all learning Xi Jinping’s thoughts on the ecological civilization. I think the Shahe Wetland Park project is still lagged far behind. Of course, as a third-party agency, we are not obstructing the implementation of the project, but in the current context, we must incorporate expert opinions into the project implementation process to give full play to the ecological benefits of the project. Because Beijing is the national capital, if we stand still a replica of the EIA fake scandal of the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology of CAS, it would be unsightly. Of course, in this regard, our third-party organizations, including CBCGDF, will definitely support and cooperate, but the key to such support and cooperation requires the understanding and attention of relevant departments.
I hope and have the confidence that the relevant authorities can listen to these opinions attentively. Or we will talk with the relevant institutions for further discussion. After attending your meeting, we will organize research seminars. We also hope that experts can come up with more opinions to for the convenience and service of the relevant departments.
Writer/胡杨 Reviewer/橡树 Editor/apple Translator/Liang Hui
Original Chinese article
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/x4cDMmHChOc8oMO-ulebuw