This aerial photo taken on Oct. 18, 2022 shows the wetland scenery at the Yellow River delta national nature reserve in east China\’s Shandong Province. (Xinhua/Guo Xulei)
BEIJING, April 3 (Xinhua) — Born and bred in Lanzhou, northwest China\’s Gansu Province, resident Yang Aizhen witnessed how the environment near the Yellow River improved.
As a \”river chief\” responsible for protecting the water environment of a section along the Yellow River near a local community, Yang was inspired by the implementation of the Yellow River Protection Law, which came into effect on April 1.
\”Now, the management of the Yellow River is supported by the law,\” said Yang.
The Yellow River Protection Law, following the Yangtze River Protection Law, is China\’s second legislation piece on a specific river basin. With its implementation, the protection of both \”mother rivers\” of the Chinese nation has a solid legal foundation.
The law consists of 122 provisions in 11 chapters, covering nearly all the aspects concerning the protection of the Yellow River, such as ecological preservation and restoration, water-sediment regulation, flood control, and the inheritance and promotion of Yellow River culture.
The Yellow River bears incomparable environmental significance to China. Ever since ancient times, the ecology of the Yellow River basin has been fragile.
On the one hand, the plateau glaciers, the Loess Plateau, and the Yellow River Delta are all prone to deteriorate. On the other hand, the river also faced severe pollution problems, resulting in poor water quality.
To address these problems, the law stipulated that the country will adhere to integrated ecological preservation and restoration and promote systemic management combining natural and artificial restoration with natural restoration in the primary position.
In addition, environmental pollution will be addressed at the source with holistic and systematic measures.
Wu Haiyong, an official supervising agricultural and husbandry activities in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of northwest China\’s Qinghai Province, has long awaited these new stipulations.
\”We used to instruct the public about local fishing restriction policies, but these policies lack deterrence,\” said Wu. He said that with the new law prohibiting mining, sand mining, fishing, and hunting on the upper reaches of the Yellow River, he and his colleagues\’ law enforcement activities now have a sound legal basis.
Wu was also happy to see that the law stipulated the establishment of law enforcement coordination mechanisms, which enables law enforcement cooperation between different regions.
\”Just like the Yangtze River Protection Law, the Yellow River Protection Law emphasizes protection and management and pursues a path of high-quality development that is eco-friendly and sustainable,\” said Wang Xin, a professor at Lanzhou University.
The Yellow River Protection Law is only the latest step in China\’s development of a legal system for environmental protection. Over the years, apart from the protection laws of the \”mother rivers,\” the country also adopted the Black Soil Protection Law and revised laws such as the Forest Law and the Law on the Protection of Wildlife.
The Yangtze River Protection Law is already taking effect more than two years after coming into effect. In 2022, a scientific survey of Yangtze finless porpoises, a species iconic in the Yangtze River under top-level state protection, showed that the number of mothers and younglings in the animal population grew significantly.
As a barometer of the ecological environment in the Yangtze River basin, the finless porpoises used to appear only in designated reserves. Nowadays, they are spotted almost anywhere along the river.
It manifests the river basin\’s environmental improvement facilitated by laws and regulations, including the Yangtze River Protection Law.
From Wang\’s perspective, the Yellow River Protection Law will also significantly improve the river basin\’s environment.