This Country’s Restoration Efforts Have Not Gone Unnoticed!

The United Nations (UN) honored Shan-Shui, China’s initiative to restore 10 million hectares of ecosystems, as a World Restoration Flagship, a special award that celebrates the initiative’s drive to not only revive the natural world but create jobs over the next decade.

“Mountains, rivers, forests as well as farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts all make indivisible parts of the ecosystem,” says Chinese President Xi Jinping. “Protecting the ecosystem requires more than a simplistic, palliative approach. We need to follow the innate laws of the ecosystem and properly balance all elements and aspects of nature.”

The Shan-Shui initiative – meaning “mountains and rivers – is one of 10 pioneering efforts to revive the natural world identified and celebrated through the UN’s inaugural World Restoration Flagships. China intends to restore 10 million hectares of natural spaces – like forests, grasslands, and waterways – by 2030. A total of 50 projects stretching across 700 counties will focus on protecting and restoring entire ecosystems. A total of 3.2 million jobs will be created, benefiting 70 million households – or 200 million people. Around the world, a total of 1 billion hectares will be restored and protected as part of countries’ commitments to the Paris Climate Agreement, the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, the Land Degradation Neutrality targets, and the Bonn Challenge.