Guilin City in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has become the first city in Guangxi to join the CitiesWithNature initiative. The announcement was made on Saturday at the 8th Summit for Subnational Governments and Cities, an official parallel event to the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity held in Cali, Colombia.
Funded by partners such as Local Governments for Sustainability, The Nature Conservancy, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, CitiesWithNature is the world’s largest platform for sharing knowledge and case studies on urban and local biodiversity conservation. It offers a wealth of guidelines, tools, and resources to help cities re-examine their relationship with nature and strive for coexistence.
During COP15 in 2022, six Chinese cities—Kunming, Chengdu, Huzhou, Nanyang, Jiaxing, and Shenzhen—were recognized by the CitiesWithNature initiative. Guilin’s inclusion marks a significant milestone for Guangxi, emphasizing the region’s commitment to environmental stewardship.
Guangxi is one of the world’s 25 biodiversity hotspots, ranking third in China for biodiversity richness. Guilin plays a crucial role in this, boasting 638 known terrestrial vertebrate species, 3,120 species of wild vascular plants, and 32 nature reserves covering 624,100 hectares.
In recent years, Guilin has been dedicated to transforming the Lijiang River Basin, which flows through the city, into a model for comprehensive river basin management both in China and globally. The city aims to set a benchmark for ecological protection and offer the world a replicable “Guilin Experience.”
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
