Chongqing - The 2024 Roundtable of Wetland City Mayors opened in Dongying, East China's Shandong Province on Tuesday. Representatives, including leaders, experts, scholars, and institutional delegates from seven countries - China, Japan, Korea, Hungary, France, Rwanda, and Morocco - and 31 cities gathered to share their passion for wetland protection and urban sustainable development concerns. The event provided a platform to discuss key issues surrounding wetland protection and urban sustainability, contributing ideas, efforts, and approaches to the global cause of wetland conservation and urban progress.

Opening ceremony of the 2024 Roundtable of Wetland City. (Photo/Tan Jiaxin)

This marks the first time the Roundtable of Wetland City Mayors has been held in China. The roundtable is a key mechanism of the International Wetland City Network, established to promote collaboration and knowledge-sharing among wetland cities worldwide, enhancing wetland protection and urban sustainable development. Chongqing’s Liangping District was invited to participate as one of the International Wetland Cities.

During the conference, Qian Jianchao, Secretary of CPC Liangping District Committee, emphasized Liangping’s commitment to ecological prioritization and green development. He highlighted the district’s efforts to improve its long-term wetland protection management mechanisms, enhance innovative capacities in wetland management, and strengthen its wetland ecosystems' biodiversity, stability, and sustainability.

In recent years, Liangping has systematically coordinated the management of its mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, and grasslands, aligning urban and rural spaces for production, life, and ecology. The total value of the wetlands’ ecological products reached 17.74 billion yuan, positioning Liangping as a model for building an International Wetlands City. This unique “Liangping experience” showcases how the value of wetland ecological products can be realized, offering a replicable approach for other regions worldwide.

The three-day conference will offer expert keynote addresses, special reports, parallel forums, network meetings, and field observations. These activities will foster deep exchanges and robust interactions between domestic and international wetland cities, driving efforts to protect the planet’s wetlands and create a beautiful world where humans and nature thrive together.