HAIKOU, September 27. /TASS/. Three eco-friendly projects in China's Hainan province will be included in the UN list to increase the diversity of the animal world of our planet, which will include the priority programs of a number of countries, reported the Hainan Daily.
According to the publication, these are activities to restore the population of Hainan gibbons in the central part of the island, about breeding bee-eaters (a bird from the bee-eater family) in the lower reaches of the Wuyuanhe River (the administrative center of the province — Haikou) and the implementation of a project to effectively clean up debris from the natural sphere of animal habitat in the area of Danzhou in the northwest of Hainan. Many rare representatives of the subtropical flora are found in the wetlands of the region and, as experts explained, are of great interest from the point of view of preserving species diversity.
The intention to register national animals on the important international list was expressed by 26 countries with a total of 258 applications. Hainan is expected to take its rightful place in this list, which will be announced in October in Kunming (southwestern Yunnan province) at the fifteenth Conference of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
It is assumed that the younger generation will play a key role in preventing the extinction of rare representatives of the animal world of Hainan, but older people will also play a key part. It is planned to periodically organize presentations and other events for them aimed at raising public awareness of environmental problems.
China's southernmost province has shown success in recovering wildlife over recent years. Thus, the population of Hainan gibbons in 2021 increased by 6% (up to 35 individuals). As for bee-eaters, compared to 2018, there are almost three times more of them on the island (72 individuals). The government is working hard to expand the area of coastal mangroves where exotic birds nest and many small mammals live. In the near future, Hainan is expected to make even more significant progress in protecting the environment and strengthen its status as one of the most eco-friendly regions in China.