China to complete wild animal consumption ban by end of September

Source: Global Times Published: 2020/8/28 18:49:30

Photo:VCG
 


China's forestry authority urged on Friday that provinces across the country to complete works related to the wild animal consumption ban by the end of September, stressing that further efforts must be made to rectify and stop the artificial breeding of wild animals but protect the interests on the previous wild animal farmers at the same time.

It will also establish a supervisory mechanism to urge provinces that have lagged behind to speed up their moves, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

"It shows China's determination in protecting wild animals, maintaining biodiversity, and ensuring public health," Qian Yefang, a professor from the school of law and politics of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, told the Global Times.

A nationwide ban on the consumption of wild animals follows the decision by China's legislative body released on February 24 to ban the consumption of wild animals and illegal wildlife trade in an all-round way. 

So far, 25 provinces in China have launched measures to rectify wild animal breeding and 19 provinces have formulated compensation plans to support the previous wild animal-raising farmers, the administration said.

Wild animal breeding has been a key project for poverty alleviation in some poverty-stricken areas, such as areas in South China's Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Qian reminded that the employment of people in the wild animal breeding trade needs to be addressed as well.

The relevant authorities are trying different measures to stop wild animal breeding while also ensuring farmer's incomes remain sustainable; for example, creating new job opportunities, providing skill training, exploring new business opportunities alongside economic compensation.

"Our county's wild animal breeding mainly focuses on snakes," Qiu Guoqiang, head of the Deqing Wetland and Wildlife Protection Administration in East China's Zhejiang Province, told the Global Times. "We will use snakes purely for medicinal purposes, which is allowed to continue in accordance with regulations." Previously, the snake farming sector in Deqing also involved in food industry.

The species affected by the campaign include six categories like snakes, ducks, pheasants, bamboo rats, porcupines, and civet cats, with more than 240,000 relevant employees involved, based on a report made by Shen Yueyue, vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, on August 10.

The evaluation of the animals involved exceeded 11 billion yuan ($1.6 billion), and the facility investment is about 7.4 billion yuan, Shen said.



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