China issues guideline on wetland protection

The State Council issued a guideline on wetland protection and restoration on Monday, promising to maintain wetland area above 800 million mu (53 million hectares) by 2020.

Wetlands will be increased by 3 million mu and the protection rate raised above 50 percent, the guideline said.

Wetland will be divided into three categories according to location, ecological function and the biodiversity. Different protection measures will apply to different types.

Wetland protection will be included in local government evaluation, but the central government will draw up a plan for wetland protection and restoration and spending will increase.

China's wetlands measure 804 million mu, accounting for 5.58 percent of the country's land area, according to Zhang Jianlong, head of the State Forestry Administration.

Wetland protection is only a part of China's plans to improve the environment, with more national archeological parks and more river managers also planned. Endi