"Strengthening the ecological conservation of marine organisms is an inevitable requirement and an important measure to build a beautiful bay with 'clear water and clean beaches, gathering of fishes and gulls, and harmony between man and sea'," said Zhang Zhifeng, deputy director of the Marine Ecological Environment Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on June 23. China's marine ecosystem health shows an overall trend of improvement, and it is still necessary to continuously strengthen marine ecological conservation and restoration in the future.

China is one of the countries with the most diversified marine organisms in the world. The marine ecosystems are also diversified in China, with important ecosystems from north to south, such as estuaries, bays, tidal flat wetlands, coral reefs, mangroves and sea grass beds, which play important ecological functions such as maintaining marine ecological security, building important habitats, providing various products and ensuring harmonious relationship between man and sea.

Zhang Zhifeng, deputy director of the Marine Ecological Environment Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment

"Nearly 30% coastal waters and 37% coastline in China have been brought into the control of the redline for ecological conservation," said Zhang Zhifeng. In recent years, many typical marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, mangroves and sea grass beds have been effectively protected, and marine biodiversity has been significantly improved.

According to the Bulletin of China's Marine Ecological Environment in 2021, among the 24 typical marine ecosystems monitored in China's coastal areas, 6 are in a healthy state and 18 are in a sub-healthy state. According to Zhang Zhifeng, China's marine ecosystem health shows an overall trend of improvement. The monitoring and evaluation results in 2016 showed that there were still 2 typical marine ecosystems in an unhealthy state, which was decreased to 1 in 2018, and the "unhealthy" state had been eliminated in 2021; besides, most of the typical marine ecosystems monitored are still in a sub-healthy state, accounting for 75%. During the 14th Five-Year Period and even the next period, it is still necessary to intensify the marine ecological conservation and restoration, and continuously improve the quality and stability of marine ecosystems.

As reported, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will continue to strengthen the ecological conservation of marine organisms, cooperate with relevant authorities to advance the establishment of marine nature reserve systems, and strengthen the overall conservation of typical marine ecosystems such as mangroves and coral reefs, rare and endangered marine organisms and their habitats, ecological corridors, etc., with bays (bay areas) as the unit; guide and urge local authorities along the coast to strengthen the restoration and recovery of damaged marine ecosystems, and implement relevant plans of the "14th Five-Year Plan" as well as the deployment and requirements of action plans; intensify the ecological monitoring and supervision of marine organisms, continue to carry out strengthened supervision of "Green Shield" nature reserve, increase the normalized ecological environment regulation of marine nature reserve and ecological protection redline, constantly reinforce the monitoring and control of marine ecosystem health, and implement multiple measures to drive the continuous improvement marine ecosystem quality and stability.