January 1st of this year marks the first anniversary of the implementation of the newly revised Marine Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China. In the past year, China has carried out marine ecological protection and restoration, enhanced the service functions of marine ecosystems, strengthened the ecological security barrier of coastal zones, and further improved the quality of marine environment. The newly revised Marine Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China will come into effect on January 1, 2024. In the past year, relevant departments have further strengthened land sea coordination, river sea linkage, and comprehensive governance, actively carried out marine ecological protection and restoration, further improved the quality of China's marine environment, improved the ecosystem service functions of some sea areas, and accelerated the orderly development and utilization of resources and the green transformation process of the marine economy. Establish a sound standard system and strengthen marine ecological restoration. Lu Lihua, Deputy Director of the Land and Space Ecological Restoration Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources, introduced that the Ministry of Natural Resources has guided the implementation of 83 central government supported marine ecological protection and restoration projects during the 14th Five Year Plan period in coastal areas. The accumulated central government subsidy funds have reached 19.6 billion yuan, and about 400 kilometers of coastline and 31000 hectares of coastal wetlands have been renovated and restored, improving the service functions and biodiversity of marine ecosystems. Technological support standards should be prioritized, and the technical standard system for marine ecological protection and restoration should be continuously improved Lu Lihua said that in 2024, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration will promote the introduction of the national standard "Technical Regulations for Mangrove Ecological Protection and Restoration", release the "Marine Ecological Protection and Restoration Standard System", and promote the release of the second batch of six innovative and applicable technologies in the field of marine ecological protection and restoration. Wang Lei, Director of the Land and Space Ecological Restoration Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources, stated that China adheres to the principle of natural restoration as the main approach, supplemented by artificial restoration, and carries out marine ecological restoration projects in an orderly manner. China has initially formed a marine ecological restoration pattern with planned guidance, institutional guarantees, financial support, and basic support from the mountaintop to the ocean. Consolidate the foundation of protection, strictly adhere to the bottom line of ecological security, and coordinate the delineation of ecological protection red lines on land and sea. The area of the marine ecological protection red line is about 150000 square kilometers, mainly protecting areas with extremely important ecological functions and areas with extremely fragile marine ecology. The marine ecological protection red line has protected important marine ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrass beds, coral reefs, coastal salt marshes, and important marine areas such as important estuaries, important mudflat and shallow waters, distribution areas of rare and endangered species, and spawning grounds of important fishery resources. The natural resources department has included the "natural shoreline retention rate" as the only binding indicator for marine resources in the coastal provincial land spatial planning, strengthening the constraint and guidance role of the natural shoreline retention rate control target. Coastal provinces will decompose the 2025 natural shoreline retention rate control targets into cities on an annual basis, incorporate natural shoreline protection into the performance assessment of coastal local governments, further deepen the responsibility system for natural shoreline retention rate control targets, and strictly adhere to the requirements of ecological security bottom line. Implement dynamic monitoring of the coastline and gradually improve the natural coastline protection system. Strengthening collaborative governance and improving the quality of marine ecosystems. In November 2024, the Ministry of Natural Resources released the top ten typical cases of marine ecological protection and restoration in 2024, involving typical ecosystems such as mangroves, coral reefs, salt marshes, islands, and natural shoreline protection and restoration, achieving significant comprehensive benefits. The Ministry of Natural Resources and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration have promoted the establishment of the first international mangrove center in Shenzhen, becoming an important platform and window for jointly promoting mangrove conservation and rational utilization, as well as facilitating mangrove exchanges and international cooperation; Organize relevant coastal provinces to accelerate the implementation of the "Special Action Plan for Mangrove Conservation and Restoration (2020-2025)". By the end of 2024, approximately 8800 hectares of newly constructed mangrove forests will be built, and approximately 8200 hectares of existing mangrove forests will be restored. China's mangrove forest area has increased by nearly 38% compared to the beginning of this century, making it one of the few countries in the world with a net increase in mangrove forest area. Strengthen the protection and restoration of coral reef ecosystems. In 2024, the General Office of the Ministry of Natural Resources issued a notice on strengthening the protection and restoration of coral reefs, proposing 10 measures from 5 aspects to further improve the management system related to coral reef protection and restoration. Strengthen the collaborative governance of marine ecosystems. Lu Lihua introduced that we will adhere to the coordinated planning of land and sea, and the linkage of rivers and seas, to promote the coordinated governance of land areas, river basins, estuaries, and bay areas. Taking the bay as the basic unit, the "one bay, one strategy" coordinated promotion of pollution prevention and control, ecological protection and restoration, and beach environment improvement in the nearshore waters, strengthening the protection and restoration of natural shorelines, coastal wetlands, etc., continuously improving the quality and stability of important marine ecosystems such as mangroves, coordinating the construction of safe, ecological, healthy, resilient, and dynamic "blue bays", "beautiful islands", and "beautiful beaches", gradually expanding high-quality sea friendly spaces, and promoting harmony among people. Wang Lei introduced that through a series of efforts such as implementing major marine ecological protection and restoration projects, the service functions of China's marine ecosystem have been continuously enhanced, the capacity of marine carbon sinks has been continuously improved, and the ecological security barrier of the coastal zone has been built. Next, relevant departments will study and formulate the "15th Five Year Plan" for marine ecological protection and restoration, mangrove protection and restoration special action plans, clarify the target tasks and engineering layout. (New Society)