China to further strengthen plant diversity conservation

BEIJING -- China has issued a new plan for plant conservation from 2021 to 2030 to push for plant diversity protection, restoration and sustainable unilization, according to the China Wild Plant Conservation Association (CWPCA).

The Strategy for Plant Conservation (2021-2030), sets 18 goals, including on-site conservation of at least 85 percent of endangered plant species.

In 2008, under the framework of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, China issued the Strategy for Plant Conservation (2010-2020), which mapped out implementation plans for 16 targets of plant protection in the country.

China has achieved 75 percent of its major strategic goals ahead of schedule and is striving to achieve the rest by 2020, according to the CWPCA.

According to the new plan, at least 80 percent of "rare and endangered plants" will be protected off-site, and 20 percent of "rare and endangered plants" will be available for ecological restoration.

A national plant information system covering all known species will be established, it said.

The country's wild plant protection list will be improved and updated, effective management programs will be developed to prevent new biological invasions, and various threats to wild plant species from international trade will be eliminated, according to the strategy.