Recently, Nanjing Institute of Geography & Limnology, CAS, jointly with other units under CAS, has successfully completed a consultation report on carrying forward China’s lake and wetland protection and restoration, which has been submitted to the State Council. It is another strategic consultation report by Nanjing Institute of Geography & Limnology, CAS following its report on comprehensive management and protection of ecological environment of Hulun Lake in Inner Mongolia which was submitted to the State Council at the beginning of this year. These two reports are both initiated and approved by CAS members consulting program, and accomplished the workgroup made up of by relevant researchers from Nanjing Institute of Geography & Limnology and scientists from other units.
China has a great number of lakes and wetlands widely covering 6.5% of China’s total area and cultivating 96% of the available fresh water resources across the country, thus boasting a huge flood storage capacity; the lake wetlands have played an irreplaceable role in multiple ways in serving the ecological environment, helping to maintain the survival of 4220 plants falling into 3 phylum, 239 families and 1255 genus and breeding 2312 species of vertebrates falling into 5 classes, 51 orders and 266 families; grain yield in lake area makes up for 50% of the gross production of China, and the lake areas have become a major recourse of freshwater aquatic products. Lakes and wetlands are also non-substitutable in water supply, flood prevention, conservation of biological diversity and maintenance of regional ecological balance. However, lakes and wetlands are confronted with severe ecological destruction and environmental deterioration, constraining the social and economic development in surrounding area and prosperous life of the people. The strategy and consultation report on carrying forward China’s lake and wetland protection and restoration completed by Nanjing Institute of Geography & Limnology, as a monographic research finding of the consulting research program “Strategy and Measures on China’s Water Safety” , has analyzed the cause to water environmental destruction and ecological deterioration of China’s lakes and wetlands, and from the perspective of immediacy of assuring China’s water safety, proposed measures on how to protect and restore the lake wetlands in conformity with legal provisions and promote the building of ecological civilization. The report has suggested making overall planning in strengthening the comprehensive management of lake wetland system; intensifying the legal system and upgrading the level of lake wetland management; and increasing recourse inputs and launching a national lakes and wetlands protection and restoration project.
As the 5th largest lake in China and the largest in North China, Hulun Lake (another name Dalai Lake) in Inner Mongolia is a representative of great lakes in semi-arid temperate zone. Hulun Lake covers an area of 2100km2, playing an irreplaceable role in maintaining ecological safety in both Hulunbuir Grassland and the whole northeast China. Since this century, water level of Hulun Lake has significantly declined and water storage capacity dramatically decreased, which as the result has brought about a series ecological recourse and environmental problems such as salinization and alkalization of lakes, threatening not only the ecological safety along the lake and the sustainable development of the society, but the ecological safety of semi-arid region in north China, and furthermore involving the international river environment and national security, such that it has caused great attention from the Communist Party and the government. According to the relevant directive issued by the Communist Party and the government, we have call on the professors and scholars in our institute to complete a consulting report on Hulun Lake’s ecological management and protection. This report, on the basis of the existing research findings and monitoring and analysis data, has further conducted a field investigation and monographic study, assessed the current state of Hulun Lake’s ecological environment, reviewed the progress achieved in present-stage comprehensive management of ecological environment and experience learnt through it, and furthermore put forward measures and suggestions on ecological environment management in the future. The report has suggested that it is essential to rationalize the management mechanism for Hulun Lake, intensify the implementation of ecological compensation; strengthen the systematic planning and comprehensive coordination so as to scientifically program and implement the Hulun Lake’s ecological environment management and restoration; and promote the building of monitoring and scientific research capacity and manage and protect the ecological environment along Hulun Lake in a more scientific manner.
