International community praises wildlife conservation efforts
On the 6th, Gabon and Germany proposed holding a high-level event on "Combating Illegal Wildlife Trade," and China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Liu Jieyi, was invited to give a keynote speech. Ambassador Liu Jieyi introduced China's specific measures in protecting wildlife, promoting international cooperation in related fields, and especially helping African countries strengthen capacity building. Ambassador Liu stated that protecting wildlife is directly related to global ecological health and security, and is of great significance to protecting humanity's common home and achieving human cultural inheritance and sustainable economic and social development. The international community should continue to adopt comprehensive measures and advance comprehensive protection from the perspective of increasing efforts to combat illegal wildlife trade. The international community should deepen international cooperation on wildlife protection, fully implement the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and relevant UN General Assembly resolutions, and jointly shoulder international obligations for wildlife protection.
Liu Jieyi said that the Chinese government attaches great importance to wildlife protection work. China has established key projects such as nature reserves and natural forest protection, and has gradually built a field protection system with nature reserves as the main body, greatly improving wildlife habitats. China persists in improving legislation, strengthening law enforcement coordination mechanisms, and tightening control measures, continuously increasing wildlife protection efforts and achieving remarkable results.
Liu Jieyi said that China attaches importance to strengthening cooperation with African countries in the field of wildlife protection. In 2015, at the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, President Xi Jinping proposed the "Ten Cooperation Plans," including China-Africa green development cooperation, supporting Africa in implementing 100 projects including wildlife protection and improving Africa's ecological environment. China has signed agreements on wildlife protection cooperation with South Africa, Kenya and other African countries, provided container monitoring and wildlife protection equipment to Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Botswana and other important wildlife species distribution countries, and assisted in personnel training, effectively enhancing African countries' law enforcement level and capacity building in wildlife protection. China is willing to work hand in hand with the international community to jointly advance the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and jointly build a better homeland for humanity with ecological security and green development.
Representatives from Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Germany, the United Kingdom and other countries at the event positively evaluated China's active measures in the field of wildlife protection, including stopping domestic commercial processing and sales of ivory and ivory products, actively providing technical equipment and personnel training to African countries, helping African countries strengthen capacity building, and playing a leadership role in promoting international cooperation on wildlife protection.
Under the impetus of Gabon and other countries, the 69th United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in July 2015 on combating illegal wildlife trade, proposing that member states should take measures in accordance with domestic and international law to comprehensively prevent and combat illegal wildlife trade. This high-level event is a specific measure to implement the relevant UN General Assembly resolution, aiming to promote international cooperation on wildlife protection.