Shandong revives its coastline, marine biodiversity

Located along the Yellow Sea, the Qingdao West Coast New Area in North China's Shandong province is a national-level hub dedicated to marine industries.

With a sprawling 309-kilometer coastline, 23 natural bays and abundant wetland resources, it serves as a critical ecological barrier for the region.

Despite its natural splendor, the area faces mounting challenges due to rapid urbanization, including coastal wetland degradation, declining biodiversity and weakened carbon sequestration capacity. In response, local authorities have launched extensive marine ecological protection and restoration campaigns.

"Over 150 kilometers of coastline have been rehabilitated, 1,200 hectares of coastal wetlands restored and 260 hectares of coastal vegetation revived since 2012," said Zang Haoyu, deputy director of the Qingdao West Coast New Area.

A notable achievement last year was the discovery of a 306-hectare eelgrass bed in Tangdao Bay, with an impressive 82 percent coverage rate, the largest of its kind in the province, he said.

Zang shared these experiences in marine ecological protection and restoration with nearly 400 participants from 29 countries and regions, including officials, experts, scholars and business leaders, during the First Ocean Decade International Coastal Cities Conference held in Qingdao from Tuesday to Thursday.

The case study garnered widespread acclaim, underscoring the importance of local action in advancing global marine sustainability.

Participants emphasized the critical role coastal cities must play in addressing climate change and improving ocean governance.

Julian Barbiere, head of the Marine Policy and Regional Coordination Section at UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, said that coastal cities are pivotal decision-making hubs for ocean sustainability.

"Cities on the coast are very important centers of power to take action for the sustainable development of the ocean," said Barbiere, who is also the global coordinator of the UN Ocean Decade.

The Ocean Decade refers to the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), a 10-year framework initiative to identify, generate and use critical ocean knowledge to manage the ocean sustainably.

Barbiere said that while the Ocean Decade has fostered extensive dialogue with national governments and the scientific community, engagement with coastal cities — key actors in ocean sustainability — has been insufficient.

To bridge this gap, the "Cities with the Ocean" platform was launched at the 2024 Ocean Decade Conference in Barcelona, Spain.

The initiative aims to connect scientific communities with city leaders, providing tailored solutions to challenges such as climate change, natural disasters, biodiversity loss and ocean-linked economic development.

The platform initially included cities such as Qingdao, Barcelona of Spain, Auckland of New Zealand, Mombasa of Kenya and Nice of France.

During the Qingdao conference, it welcomed eight new members, including Xiamen, a coastal city of Southeast China's Fujian province.

Xiamen will collaborate with platform members to tackle global challenges like climate change and marine pollution, fostering harmonious development between humans and the ocean, said Wang Yu, director of Xiamen's marine development bureau.

The achievements of Qingdao and Xiamen reflect China's growing contributions to global climate action and ocean governance, earning recognition from international participants.

Nelly Florida Riama, deputy head of Geophysics at the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics, highlighted the strong collaboration between the China Meteorological Administration and the agency.

"China is one of the leading countries that has made impressive progress in providing weather and climate information," she said.