Min: Protecting agricultural heritage sites

Min Qingwen, a member of the 14th CPPCC National Committee and a professor at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been dedicated to protecting the agricultural heritage sites and promoting collaboration between them.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has released 138 China Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems sites.

Among them are Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations designated 19 Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems.

In 2005, the Qingtian Rice Fish Culture System in Qingtian county, Zhejiang province, became the world's first GIAHS site.

Min said that over the past 1,300 years, Chinese people have created an environmentally friendly agricultural model that combines planting and aquaculture. They use rice fields to raise fish that in turn promote rice growth. This step greatly reduces chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

China is the earliest participant and firm supporter of the GIAHS initiative. It has played a leading role in heritage declaration, scientific and technological support and monitoring and evaluation, he said.