The situation of invasive alien species is severe, and China has become one of the most seriously affected countries

On July 24, the national on-site eradication event for the invasive alien species water hyacinth was held in Guilin Town, Tongnan County, Chongqing.

Water hyacinth is one of the world's ten worst invasive weeds. It was introduced into China in the 1930s and has already spread and proliferated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, bringing extremely adverse effects on crop farming, aquaculture, tourism, transportation, shipping, and flood control and drainage. Since the beginning of summer this year, water hyacinth has spread rapidly in southern waters, not only causing deterioration of the native habitat of aquatic plants and the swamping and eutrophication of water bodies, but also leading to large-scale die-offs of fish and crabs.

Wang Yanliang, deputy director of the Department of Science, Technology and Education of the Ministry of Agriculture and director of the Agricultural Ecology and Resource Protection Station, introduced at the on-site eradication event meeting that China has become one of the countries in the world most severely affected by invasive alien species, with 529 invasive species, of which more than 100 occur over large areas and cause serious harm. Since the 1980s, alien species have shown a faster growth trend in China. In the past 10 years, nearly 50 invasive species have been newly added, and more than 20 dangerous invasive species have successively broken out and caused disasters over large areas in China, posing a huge threat to China's biodiversity, agricultural and livestock production, and public health, and severely constraining China's ecological security and sustainable agricultural development. As the lead management department for alien species, the Ministry of Agriculture, facing the severe invasion situation, has continuously increased its work efforts, established the Office for Management of Invasive Alien Species and the Research Center for Prevention and Control of Invasive Alien Species, organized the drafting of the Measures for the Management of Alien Species, revised the Emergency Response Plan for Sudden Incidents Involving Invasive Alien Species, issued the first batch of the List of Invasive Alien Species under Key National Management, organized localities to carry out baseline surveys and monitoring and early warning, carried out concentrated eradication and scientific and technological research on invasive alien organisms such as Ageratina adenophora, Alternanthera philoxeroides, Solanum rostratum, and Cenchrus pauciflorus, improved the information database of invasive alien organisms, formulated technical guidelines for emergency prevention and control, and established emergency eradication and clearance mechanisms, effectively curbing the spread and harm of harmful invasive alien species and gradually improving the institutional mechanisms for the prevention and control of invasive alien species.

Wang Yanliang pointed out that Chongqing is located in the transition zone between the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Plain, with complex geology and landforms, numerous mountains and hills, high environmental heterogeneity, abundant water and heat conditions, and many rivers. It has rich and diverse ecosystems and a complex and ancient biota, and biodiversity conservation is of great significance. In recent years, invasive alien species such as Ageratina adenophora, Chromolaena odorata, and Pomacea canaliculata have frequently occurred in Chongqing, with relatively widespread harm, posing serious harm to ecological security, among which water hyacinth is the most serious. All localities in Chongqing attach great importance to the prevention and control of invasive alien species, effectively strengthen leadership, establish multi-departmental coordination mechanisms, and actively carry out comprehensive prevention and control and early warning monitoring. The work has achieved notable results, realizing early detection and early eradication of invasive alien organisms and effectively preventing further spread and proliferation.

According to Gao Xingming, deputy director of the Chongqing Municipal Agriculture Commission, Chongqing currently has 53 invasive alien organisms, distributed across 33 agricultural districts and counties, with a cumulative invaded area of 30.32 million mu in the past 4 years, including 1.88 million mu of water hyacinth. In recent years, the city has carried out more than 500 concentrated eradication activities, distributed more than 100,000 copies of publicity materials, trained more than 30,000 person-times, and concentratedly eradicated 8.69 million mu of Alternanthera philoxeroides, water hyacinth, Pomacea canaliculata, Conyza sumatrensis, and Ageratina adenophora, while the masses spontaneously eradicated more than 21 million mu, achieving the effect of mass prevention and mass treatment. This not only effectively protected Chongqing's agricultural ecological security, but also made positive contributions to the agricultural ecological security and public health safety of provinces and cities in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.