Protection for Yangtze River environment

White paper outlines crackdown and restoration of ecological damage

Procuratorial organs of the 11 provinces and municipalities along the Yangtze River Economic Belt approved the arrests of 3,335 people in 2,140 cases involving the destruction of the environment and resources during the past 11 months, data released over the weekend showed.

They prosecuted 22,543 people involved in 13,358 such cases, according to a white paper on serving and guaranteeing the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt issued by the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Prosecutors in the regions have intensified a crackdown on crimes damaging the environment and resources, including illegal mining, activities causing environmental pollution and the illegal purchase, transportation or selling of rare or endangered animals and their byproducts.

Procuratorates also filed 30,930 public interest litigation cases involving ecological and resource protection and issued 21,526 preprosecution suggestions, it said.

The white paper showed that procuratorial organs have cracked down on illegal fishing along the Yangtze, with more than 10,000 people involved in 6,276 cases charged with illegal fishing. They also approved the arrests of 1,470 people involved in 915 cases.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued a document in December last year, banning fishing in 332 nature reserves and aquatic conservation zones along the river.

The mainstream of the river, its major tributaries and large lakes connected to it were told to ban fishing for 10 years from Jan 1,2021 at the latest.

The procuratorial organs have also urged the restoration of about 11,800 hectares of forest land, farmland, wetlands and grasslands that had been damaged or illegally occupied.

At the same time, they supervised the restoration of more than 88,900 hectares of polluted water sources and rectification work of 4,437 enterprises and farms that had caused environmental pollution.

Lyu Hongtao, deputy director of the Supreme People's Procuratorate's Eighth Procuratorial Office, said the ecological restoration undertaken by the offenders will be taken into consideration when charging them.

Prosecutors have urged the offenders to pay compensation for ecological damage and repair the damaged environment, Lyu said.

Procuratorial organs will continue to strengthen the mechanism for joint governance and protection of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and continue to pursue its innovation-driven development and improve judicial protection, Lyu added.

In July, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Public Security and the Supreme People's Procuratorate issued a circular to curb the illegal discharge, dumping or disposal of hazardous waste.

Departments and judicial organs also signed ecological environment law enforcement and judicial cooperation opinions to set the standard for handling cases.