Guiyang conducts biodiversity survey

The city of Guiyang – capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province – on Oct 22 completed an on-site survey, which took a week to carry out, on the biodiversity of the region's seed plants and its ecological system.

A team led by Tang Xiaoxin, professor of the School of Life Sciences at Guizhou Normal University, conducted the investigation in the Houer Tiankeng scenic spot at Kaiyang county, which started on Oct 16.

The survey, with a focus on the county areas, collected samples from typical areas with lush vegetation to investigate the plant species there – looking into their main areas of distribution and the levels of plant resources.

In August, Guiyang pioneered a venture in the province, starting a three-year biodiversity evaluation survey. The systematic investigation and comprehensive evaluation will focus on the genetic diversity, species diversity, ecological system diversity and landscape diversity, covering 22 specialist topics.

The initiative is regarded as being an important measure conducted by the Guiyang Bureau of Ecology and Environment, to implement Guiyang's ecological strategy. It is expected to play a key role in the bureau's goals to conserve and improve the ecological system and the region's environment.

It is also part of Guiyang's wider drive to develop as an ecological civilization and will be one of the city's key measures to assess its achievements made in protecting the ecological system and the environment.

The concept of developing an ecological civilization – China's environmental strategy, added to the constitution in 2018 – has been described as sustainable development with Chinese characteristics. China's idea is for an ecological civilization where the economy is the service of ecology and society, not vice versa and there is a balanced and sustainable relationship – recognizing that the economy is embedded in the ecology and not the other way around.