What they say

Illegal activities that harm the environment are usually hard to trace. Procuratorates at all levels should establish departments to focus on environmentrelated crime. Departmental staff members could also educate local people on environment protection. Sun Jianbo, National People’s Congress deputy and Party secretary of Yuanshan Forest Farm, Shandong Province

Overgrazing is one of the major causes of grassland degradation. But the bigger problem is that we don’t have an environmental impact assessment system for the grassland. Revision of the grassland law is urgently needed, which will also clearly define rights and responsibilities for better protection. Zhou Bingjian, member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference

To protect China’s biodiversity, we need to build a mechanism to monitor the environment and wildlife in the regions that suffer most from deforestation or other damage to environmental systems. More observation stations should be built along major rivers, such as the Yangtze, and big data can be widely introduced to assist the protection of biodiversity. Li Zhaohui, NPC deputy and director of the Institute of Ecological Studies

It takes a long time for grassland and regions suffering from desertification to see environmental improvements. I think we should build grassland parks and more conservation areas targeting certain species, then allow five to 30 years for the ecological systems in those regions to be restored. Wan Xiaobai, NPC deputy from Jilin province

We should draft laws on biodiversity protection as soon as possible. They should clearly state the responsibilities of different departments and encourage more participation from the general populace. A system of accountability for ecological and environmental protection is also needed, and it should give rewards and punishments depending on each case. Zhang Tianren, NPC deputy and chairman of Tianneng Group