分类： environment

In a remarkable ecological turnaround, China’s crested ibis population has surged from near extinction to over 10,000 birds globally, with approximately 6,000 residing in their original habitat in Yangxian County, Shaanxi Province. This conservation success story represents one of the most significant wildlife recovery achievements in modern history.

The species, often referred to as the ‘oriental gem’ for its striking appearance featuring salmon-pink plumage and distinctive white crest, stood on the brink of disappearance in 1981 when only seven wild individuals remained. Immediate protective measures implemented by local authorities included banning blasting excavation operations and prohibiting chemical pesticides and fertilizers in areas where the birds forage.

Wang Chao, a senior expert with the Hanzhong Crested Ibis National Nature Reserve, explained that comprehensive conservation strategies have been crucial to this recovery. During breeding seasons, observation shelters are established with 24-hour monitoring to protect the birds from predators and human disturbance. These efforts have significantly enhanced natural breeding success rates.

The environmental benefits have extended beyond crested ibises. The improved ecosystem has attracted approximately 400 bird species to winter in Hanzhong, up from 300 before conservation efforts began, including reappearances of white-tailed eagles and glossy ibises.

The conservation program has also generated substantial socioeconomic benefits. Local farmers initially struggled with reduced agricultural output and market rejection of their produce due to pesticide-free farming requirements. However, through national programs supporting organic rice production and agritourism, villagers have transformed these challenges into economic opportunities.

Hua Ying, a resident of Caoba village, witnessed the transformation firsthand. From seven birds reappearing in 1993, the local population has grown to approximately 700. While tourism initially caused disturbances as visitors approached too closely for photographs, the establishment of the Yangxian County Bird Watching Association in 2006 created structured ecotourism opportunities. Trained guides now ensure responsible birdwatching while generating income through guiding services, accommodation, and organic product sales.

The population growth presents new conservation challenges. Reserve staff face increasing pressure with over 200 sick or injured ibises requiring treatment annually. Rescue efforts peak twice yearly, addressing malnourished fledglings in summer and older birds struggling with winter conditions.

Population monitoring has become increasingly complex. A recent two-month survey identified over 150 significant roosting sites, requiring coordinated efforts from multiple sectors due to limited personnel. The species’ expansion has led to dispersal beyond traditional habitats, with birds now found in Sichuan, Gansu, and Hubei provinces.

China is now implementing a national reintroduction program to restore crested ibises to their historical range across more than 20 provinces. Captive populations have been established in 13 regions, with nature reintroduction initiatives underway in six areas, aiming to reestablish the bird’s historical distribution and migratory patterns.

On the windswept Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, herder Sonam Tsering recalls when winter gales transformed his pastures into plastic wastelands. “It was heartbreaking to see my pasture littered with plastic bags,” said Tsering from Gangcha county, noting the lethal threat to livestock that accidentally ingested the debris. Today, his reality has transformed dramatically through a simple phone call that ensures prompt waste collection.

This change stems from a fundamental shift in waste management strategies around Qinghai Lake, one of the world’s highest plateau lakes and a crucial ecological barrier for Northwest China. For two decades, more than ten landfills occupying over 500,000 square meters have processed household waste in ecologically sensitive grasslands and valleys. The plateau’s extreme cold and low oxygen levels severely delayed natural degradation, while seasonal winds scattered plastic waste across fragile ecosystems.

In 2023, Qinghai province launched its first large-scale waste-to-energy facility in Xining, triggering a systematic overhaul. Counties surrounding the lake now collect and transport waste through township and county-level networks to Xining for incineration. Between June 2024 and May 2025, nearly 30,000 tonnes of waste made this journey in approximately 2,000 truckloads.

The incineration process operates at temperatures exceeding 850°C, effectively breaking down harmful substances through fermentation and high-temperature combustion. “Flue gas undergoes rigorous treatment through de-acidification, absorption and dust removal processes,” explained Wang Yongpeng, head of the Xining project, ensuring emissions meet environmental standards. The process has additionally generated approximately 15 million kilowatt-hours of electricity.

This waste management transformation coincides with remarkable ecological recovery. Qinghai Lake has experienced expanding water levels for twenty consecutive years, with satellite data from September 2024 recording a surface area of 4,650.08 square kilometers. Biodiversity has flourished alongside these conservation efforts.

China’s national waste management paradigm has shifted dramatically from landfill dependence to advanced incineration. Over 1,000 large-scale incineration plants now process more than 1.1 million tonnes daily nationwide—equivalent to filling 440 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The Qinghai Lake initiative provides a pioneering model for waste disposal in high-altitude, low-oxygen environments globally.

China has dramatically transformed its role in global environmental governance, evolving from a participating nation to a definitive leader in climate action, according to officials and experts speaking at a recent seminar on Ecological Civilization in Xiamen. The gathering brought together provincial leaders, national ministry officials, researchers, and business representatives to discuss China’s expanding contributions to building a sustainable global future.

Substantial environmental progress within China provides the foundation for this leadership claim. Public satisfaction with ecological conditions has remained above 90% for four consecutive years, demonstrating successful environmental protection alongside continued economic advancement. Air quality metrics show particularly dramatic improvement: concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in major cities have plummeted by 56% compared to a decade ago, while heavily polluted days have decreased by an impressive 92%—representing the world’s most rapid air quality enhancement.

The green transition has simultaneously fueled economic growth, with China dominating the global new energy vehicle market for ten straight years. The nation’s forest coverage has expanded to over 25%, accounting for a quarter of the planet’s new green growth. These domestic achievements are now complemented by extensive international cooperation through multiple channels.

China has established 55 climate-focused South-South cooperation agreements with 43 developing nations while providing professional training to participants from over 120 countries. This effort aims to transform developing nations from passive recipients to active participants in global climate rule-making, advocating for equitable responsibility distribution and opposing green trade barriers.

Juncao technology exemplifies China’s practical contributions to global sustainability. This innovative, adaptable grass hybrid developed by Professor Lin Zhanxi serves multiple purposes—growing edible mushrooms, providing livestock feed, and enabling ecological restoration. Introduced to 109 countries, it has particularly benefited less developed regions through over 400 training sessions for 16,000 international trainees. The technology’s symbolic significance was highlighted when King Tupou VI of Tonga personally planted Juncao during a recent visit to Fujian, with many now calling it ‘friendship grass’ for its role in strengthening international bonds and improving livelihoods.

China’s monumental ecological achievement surrounding the Taklimakan Desert—the nation’s largest desert—has reached a significant milestone after its first year of operation. The 3,046-kilometer green barrier, recognized globally as an engineering marvel, has successfully contained desert expansion while creating new economic opportunities for local communities.

The ambitious project, which encircles the desert like a protective scarf, was recently honored among the ‘2025 Top 10 Global Engineering Achievements’ by the World Federation of Engineering Organizations. Over the past year, 21 counties and cities along the desert’s edge have expanded the barrier by approximately 593,400 hectares, increasing its width to 7,500 meters while simultaneously improving critical infrastructure including water supply systems, electricity networks, and transportation routes.

Local residents have emerged as key participants in this ecological transformation. Couples like Tursunbaq Mahmuthet and Sudiumay Tursun from Hotan county have returned to their hometowns to lead restoration initiatives. ‘When we were young, this entire area was nothing but desert,’ they recalled while examining thriving sand date tree saplings. ‘We never imagined we’d be able to cultivate these trees here.’ Their cooperative, comprising 18 households, now cultivates sand dates on 1,000 mu of reclaimed desert land.

The project employs cutting-edge technologies including photovoltaic systems that harness solar power to extract brackish groundwater for drip irrigation. Innovative techniques such as grass checkerboard stabilization and drought-resistant vegetation have effectively controlled mobile sand dunes. In Yutian county, frequently battered by gales, the ‘terraced desert’ model has reduced land leveling costs by 82 percent while achieving 85 percent vegetation survival rates.

The Tarim Desert Highway, China’s first desert road, features a 436-kilometer shelterbelt with over 20 million drought-tolerant plants. Smart pipeline systems along this route are undergoing upgrades, offering a pioneering ‘Tarim solution’ for desertification control.

This ecological effort has catalyzed a remarkable economic transformation. Desertification control has evolved into a sustainable economic model, spawning industries including rose farming, cistanche cultivation, and eco-tourism. In Yutian, expansive rose fields supply high-value ingredients for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals while producing 80 percent of China’s cistanche output, generating employment for over 10,000 residents.

Enterprises like Xinjiang Silu Guobao Agriculture Co. have invested in desert areas, cultivating roses and pistachios on reclaimed land. Public-private partnerships allow land rentals to benefit villagers, fostering shared wealth. Across the region, sand-based industries now cover 10.8 million mu of desert land, generating approximately $4.1 billion in annual output value and engaging over 360 processing enterprises.

Tourism has emerged as a key growth sector, with attractions such as the Shaya Poplar Forest and Yuli Lop Nur village attracting over 15 million visitors annually. By 2025, the sand industry’s expansion had increased average annual incomes of 300,000 farmers and herders by 3,000 to 4,500 yuan.

International experts have praised the project’s comprehensive approach. Peter Gilruth, senior advisor at World Agroforestry, emphasized that ‘this represents a profound long-term commitment, blending financial investment, political will, and multi-stakeholder collaboration.’ Mohamed Elfleet, consultant researcher at King Abdulaziz University, noted the model’s transferability: ‘We need to consider local conditions. Transfer this model, apply it, but adopt it to the local conditions.’

The project marks a paradigm shift from traditional ‘desert advancing, people retreating’ scenarios to a new era of ‘green advancing, desert retreating,’ offering scalable models for arid regions worldwide while demonstrating how ecological restoration can fuel economic prosperity.

As China advances towards its 2030 carbon-peaking goal, the next five years are pivotal in shaping its energy transition. With coal and oil remaining central to its energy system, the country is focusing on reducing their consumption while ensuring energy security. This strategy is embedded in the Communist Party of China Central Committee’s recommendations for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), unveiled last month. The world’s largest energy consumer aims to balance its climate ambitions with the need for a stable energy supply. Since 2020, China has accelerated its shift toward clean energy, aligning with its pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. The share of non-fossil fuels in total energy consumption has steadily increased, supported by the rapid expansion of renewable energy systems. Over the next five years, China plans to build a new-type energy system, where non-fossil sources will replace fossil fuels in a secure and orderly manner. Coal consumption will be gradually reduced, with remaining usage made cleaner and more efficient. Simultaneously, China will fast-track the development of major clean energy bases, including wind, solar, hydropower, offshore wind farms, and coastal nuclear projects. New energy sources like biogas, sustainable aviation fuel, and geothermal energy will be advanced based on local conditions. As coal and oil consumption peak, related industries may face challenges. China plans to optimize industrial layouts, expanding advanced capacity while phasing out inefficient coal mining and oil refining. Official projections suggest that by 2030, fossil fuels will account for less than 75 percent of total energy consumption. Coal consumption is expected to peak around 2027, with demand from steel and building materials declining. Oil consumption will likely peak around 2026, as refined oil product usage has already peaked, and petrochemical feedstock demand will grow moderately. Achieving carbon peaking is just the beginning. In September 2025, China unveiled its new Nationally Determined Contributions, setting ambitious goals for 2035, including reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by 7-10 percent from peak levels, increasing the share of non-fossil fuels to over 30 percent, and expanding wind and solar capacity to over six times 2020 levels. Experts believe these commitments mark China’s entry into a more comprehensive phase of low-carbon development, strengthening its role in global climate governance.

China has emerged as a global leader in addressing nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, showcasing a successful blend of pollution control and climate action. Since 2013, the country has managed to stabilize and subsequently reduce the growth rate of anthropogenic N2O emissions, a greenhouse gas significantly more potent than carbon dioxide. This achievement underscores that economic growth does not inevitably lead to increased emissions of heat-trapping gases. Han Yinghui, an associate professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, emphasized the critical role of N2O in achieving global temperature goals during a recent event at the Chinese pavilion at COP30 in Belem, Brazil. N2O, with a global warming potential nearly 300 times that of CO2, remains in the atmosphere for over a century, making its control essential for mitigating severe climate impacts. While agriculture is the largest source of N2O emissions globally, industrial sources present the greatest potential for reduction. Han highlighted that while developed countries have historically contributed the most to cumulative N2O emissions, recent increases have been driven by emerging economies in Asia, necessitating global cooperation. China’s progress in N2O control is attributed to ‘synergistic governance,’ integrating climate goals into environmental management. The country has widely adopted selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology in coal-fired power plants, achieving a 70 to 90 percent reduction in N2O emissions. Additionally, China has introduced an action plan targeting industrial N2O emissions and is incorporating N2O data into its national carbon trading system. Proven technologies, such as exhaust gas purification in adipic acid production, are already in use, removing over 95 percent of N2O emissions while recovering the gas as a useful industrial product. China’s validated industrial technologies are scalable and ready for global sharing, helping other nations avoid carbon-intensive development pathways.

The Qilihai Wetland in Tianjin’s Ninghe district has witnessed a remarkable increase in both the diversity and population of migratory birds this year, according to local authorities. Monitoring data reveals that 308 bird species have been recorded so far, marking a significant rise of 50 species compared to 2021. Among the notable observations, over 3,000 Eurasian spoonbills were spotted during their autumn migration, doubling the typical count. Additionally, rare species such as the Oriental white stork and black-winged stilt were seen in unusually large numbers. Experts predict that the total number of migratory birds visiting the wetland this year will surpass 600,000. Situated along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, the Qilihai Wetland is a critical stopover for migratory birds, offering a rich ecosystem of 183 wild plant species and 47 wild fish species that provide ample food resources. This surge in bird activity underscores the wetland’s ecological importance and its role in supporting biodiversity.