Botanical garden aids biodiversity protection: China Daily editorial

The inauguration of the China National Botanical Garden in Beijing on Monday is a milestone event for the nation.

Epitomizing the importance the country attaches to biodiversity, the protection of the diversity of plants in particular, the garden will strengthen China's contribution to the protection of biodiversity and the building of a balanced biological environment for humanity.

The development of the former Beijing Botanical Garden over the several decades since 1978 was the outcome of people's increasing awareness of the need to protect the nation's flora and fauna.

People have had a growing realization of how important it is to protect biodiversity and maintain a balance between humans and nature. And it is the efforts to plant trees by people from all walks of life in Beijing over the past many years that transformed what used to be barren land with almost no plants at all in the early years of the People's Republic of China into a green area for the capital.

However, a botanic garden has a different function than ordinary parks, which provide residents with a green environment in which to enjoy their leisure time.

Among other things, botanic gardens shoulder the task of conducting research about the protection of rare plants or plants on the verge of extinction. Botanists in what was the Beijing Botanical Garden have already achieved a lot in the collection of different varieties of plants and have had papers on the conservation of flora published in international journals.

But the newly upgraded botanic garden will promote further collaborations and cooperation with botanists worldwide, and enable China to pool necessary resources for research on plants.

Research on gardening technology in the botanic garden will also provide know-how for the development of botanic parks nationwide as all cities are making efforts to maintain an ecological balance and create a better environment for local residents.

President Xi Jinping announced that China would start the building of a system of national botanical gardens at the summit of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in October 2021.

The inauguration of the China National Botanical Garden is the first fruit of that commitment to the global cause of biodiversity protection.

At the same time the garden will provide an environment where visitors can learn more about plants and increase their awareness about the importance of flora diversity.

The rapid growth of the Chinese economy and its stronger research capabilities have undoubtedly laid the foundation for the development of its biodiversity conservation efforts.

This synergy must be cultivated as a virtuous circle for the building of an ecological civilization.