China's New National Rules on Wetland Protection

Abstract

China's National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee have not yet passed a national wetland protection law, nor has the State Council passed national regulations on wetland protection. The lack of national law on this subject matter poses great challenges to “effectively regulate the behavior of and relationships between the various stakeholders (for example, different levels of governments, the industrial sector, and the public)”. Although 18 out of 34 provinces in China have issued local regulations for wetland protection as of November 2013, it will be difficult to enforce them due to the lack of national laws. In order to push for passage of a national law, the State Administration of Forestry adopted national rules on wetland protection titled the Management Rules on Wetland Protection on March 28, 2013. This country report seeks to provide an introduction to this new legal tool for wetland protection in China.