China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Protected plant list updated
Revision offers hobbyists and scientists the opportunity to raise greater awareness over biodiversity
Earlier this month, the State Forestry and Grassland Administration began to solicit public opinion on the upcoming revised content of the “National Key Protected Wild Plants List”. This is the first major revision of the list since its implementation in 1999.
According to the notice issued by the administration, the list includes a total of 468 species and 25 categories of wild plants, of which 53 species and two categories are under primary protection, and 415 species and 23 categories are under secondary protection. On the basis of the first batch of the list, 55 species were deleted, 296 species and 17 categories were added. Two species were upgraded from national secondary protection to national first-level protection, while 18 species and two categories of first-level protection were downgraded to secondary level.
“There are many exciting changes in this new list,’’ says Gu Yourong, associate professor at School of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, and PhD in Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. “The biggest highlight is the inclusion of 104 species of orchids. Orchids have suffered from pirated harvesting because of their ornamental nature. More than half of China’s 1,500 orchids are threatened. Although only 104 species have been included this time, I believe it is going to help alleviate orchid pirated harvesting.’’
Gu is among the many plant enthusiasts who called for greater awareness of species diversity of wild plants in China.
Snow lotus (Saussurea involucrata), which has received much attention, finally entered the quasi-second rank from the discussion draft this time. The jellyfish snowshoe hare (Saussurea medusa) belongs to the same family and are often mistaken as snow lotus. It is also included in the second level.
Snow lotus is coveted by poachers because people who consume it believe it can cure disease. Snowshoe hares are close relatives of the snow lotus, and they grow in a similar environment. They are often used by poachers as substitutes for snow lotus to deceive unsuspecting consumers.
In the past few years, there has been widespread illegal harvesting of snowshoe hare, especially jellyfish snowshoe hare.
Last August, yeshixiaoge, a food blogger with more than 3 million fans on Weibo, made a controversial video. It was called “What is the taste of instant noodles with jellyfish snow lotus at an altitude of 4500 meters?” It was viewed 350,000 times.
In the video, as the title implies, the blogger climbed a mountain, carefully pulled out a fluffy plant from a nearby rock pile, washed it, and cooked it with instant noodles.
After the video was released, it was criticized by many netizens, and Gu lamented that even the botanists hardly ever dare to touch it when they collect specimens.
Some snowshoe hares can live in extremely barren rocky areas 4,000 meters above sea level, and are mostly distributed at extremely high altitudes near the snow line.
In China, there are 26 different species of snowshoe hares. Its flowering period is mostly around July and August. It is a perennial one-time flowering plant. After the flowering period, when the seeds mature, the plant’s maternal body completes its life course.
“This time, the jellyfish snowshoe hare is classified as a second-class, which is a great thing and will definitely curb the poaching. But here comes the problem. There is more than one type of snowshoe hare that looks like a snow lotus. The jellyfish snowshoe hares are included in the protection, but those poachers may reach out to other snowshoe hares,” Gu says. “Of the 26 species of snowshoe hares in China, most of them, like the jellyfish snowshoe hares, are covered with fluff. And in the recent pirating incidents, it is not just the jellyfish snowshoe hares involved.”
Every summer, stolen snowshoe hares are sold on the market for just a few dollars.
Sun Xiaomei, a plant enthusiast based in Chengdu, Sichuan province, has a passion for plant photography.
She said she once encountered some villagers collecting, buying and selling snowshoe hares on Baima Snow Mountain in Yunnan province. There were dozens of people, and three pickup trucks were parked at the foot of the mountain, with a dozen sacks stacked on them. They were filled with all kinds of snowshoe hares. When she and her friends confronted them, they didn’t feel ashamed at all, and told them to mind their own business. Unfortunately, Sun was unable to record a video for evidence.
“If only the jellyfish snowshoe hare is included in the secondary protection, it may threaten other species. After all, the snowshoe rabbit is extremely rare. Each of the snow rabbits growing near the high mountain stream are of great significance to the ecological environment,’’ Sun says. “After years of severe cold and accumulation of sufficient nutrients, they bloom only once. When the poachers have their hands on them, the fate of a plant will be changed for several years, and it will cause incalculable environmental damages.”
Sun and Gu both recommend that all species of snowshoe rabbits be listed as key protected plants. They believe this is the common expectation of the whole society and an urgent need to protect the fragile ecology of the mountains.
“Although China has initially established a system of laws and regulations, there is still a lack of laws and regulations regarding behaviors that have a potential impact on the country’s ecological security and biological safety,” Sun says.
She hopes that after the release of the new list, there will be close follow-up of the revision, and regulations should be enacted to encourage provinces to issue corresponding laws that tailor to the local situations specifically.
Gu believes that the protection of endangered plants needs the public to truly reach a consensus that “wild plants are public resources and therefore must not be violated”, and stop hurting wild plants in order to reduce the chance of harming endangered plants. “After all, it is impossible for the public to distinguish which are endangered species, and it is also difficult to make it clear in a short time,” Gu says.
Zhou Jinfeng, secretary-general of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation, suggests that the list of protected wild plants be updated regularly every five years.