BEIJING: Highlighting the importance of curbing the presence of invasive species, a recent draft amendment to the Wildlife Protection Law states that wild animal species introduced from overseas must not be illegally released or abandoned. The draft revision was submitted to the ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, on Tuesday for a third review. The draft states that departments responsible for wildlife protection from the county level upward should act to control invasive species found to be causing harm to local ecosystems. It also requires the State Council, China’s Cabinet, to strengthen regulations on releasing animals into the wild.
Referring to a case involving the presence of wild boars that were damaging farms, the draft revision permits wildlife protection agencies from the county level upward to take measures including ex-situ conservation or even hunting, if they discover the population of wild animals such as wild boars in a region exceeds environmental capacity. It states that the measures should be taken based on investigation, monitoring and evaluation of animals and their habitats, adding that more detailed rules on what steps to take will be provided by the State Council. Local governments are ordered to erect warning signs or barriers to mitigate potential danger or destruction by wild animals. “The amendment to the law is in order to implement the requirements of pursuing green development and promoting harmony between humanity and nature contained in the report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China,” Li Fei, an official from the NPC Constitution and Law Committee, said while explaining the draft revision to legislators on Tuesday.
–The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
