Recently, the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity was held in Cali, Colombia. During the conference’s official parallel event, the 8th Global Summit of Local and Subnational Governments, the second list of cities selected as “Biodiversity Charming Citiy” was announced, with Lishui City recognized among the honorees.

The designation of “Biodiversity Charming Citiy” is aims to showcase and commend cities and regions that have achieved outstanding results in biodiversity conservation, supporting the global objectives for biodiversity governance. The evaluation system comprehensively assesses cities’  progress in biodiversity protection and environmental governance through five dimensions: representative indicators, functional indicators, development indicators, synergy indicators, and governance indicators.

Lishui, renowned as the “Premier Ecological City in China” and the “Green Valley of Zhejiang”, has in recent years focused on building the most beautiful core area of the Grand Garden of Picturesque Zhejiang. Centering its efforts on advancing a robust battle against pollution, the city has steadily promoted the modernization of its ecological governance systems and capabilities. It’s quality of ecological environment has consistently improved at a high level, with water and air quality leading nationwide rankings for many years, and its ecological environment index has held the top position in Zhejiang Province for 20 consecutive years.

With support from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment, Lishui City initiated a comprehensive biodiversity baseline survey in December 2019. Collaborating with the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, over 50 research institutions and a team of more than 1,500 investigators conducted the survey over three years, making Lishui the first in China to complete a full-area biodiversity baseline study. The survey documented 3,687 species of vascular plants, 635 species of vertebrates, 2,608 species of terrestrial insects, 134 species of fish, and 2,040 species of macrofungi. To date, 28 globally new species, including Baishanzu horn toad and Microphysogobio oujiangensis, have been discovered in Lishui, along with several rare and endangered species, such as Yellow-billed Tragopan and Muntiacus crinifrons, making this survey a benchmark in national biodiversity research.

In addition, Lishui has designated 76.69% of its land area as an ecological conservation priority zone, establishing a nature reserve system centered on Baishanzu National Park. Committed to nature-based solutions, Lishui has implemented a comprehensive ecosystem restoration project integrating mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, and grasslands in the headwater region of the Ou river. In 2022, this initiative, as part of the “China Landscape Project”, was recognized by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization as one of the “Top 10 World Restoration Flagships”.

In urban planning, Lishui released the Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Utilization Development Plan (2020–2035) in December 2020. Additionally, it issued policy standards such as the Action Plan for Building a National Biodiversity Conservation Pilot Zone (2022–2025) and the Technical Regulations for Biodiversity Assessment Index, forming a comprehensive management framework for biodiversity.