On its onshore territory, 25% of the country is designated as ‘ecological conservation’ habitat, intended to conserve resources and improve the environment. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment was tasked with identifying areas that needed protection a decade ago, when the government acknowledged decades of ‘irrational development’ had threatened its ecological safety.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Cui Shuhong, director of the ministry’s Nature and Ecology Conservation Department, said that ‘red lines’ had been drawn around zones that served an important ecological function, as well as those that were sensitive and vulnerable.
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In a recent interview, Cui said: ‘We will mark the red lines of ecological protection and stricty guard them, as well as rein in various violations of the ecosystem that adversely affect the vital interests of the people’. Central government officials made it clear that local government officials were responsible for protecting designated areas in 2017, and they later ordered an ongoing crackdown on industrial plants, farms, piggeries and even residential houses built within the red lines.
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