A project in Cangnan to receive 300 million yuan award from central government

Recently, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Natural Resources have jointly announced the selection of 16 marine ecological protection and restoration projects in China for 2024. The Wenzhou City (Cangnan County) Marine Ecological Protection and Restoration Project has been chosen through a competitive evaluation and will receive a 300 million yuan award from the central government. This is the second time that Cangnan County has been awarded the National“Blue Bay” Award, following the one in 2020. It is also the fifth time that the Wenzhou“Blue Bay” Project has received the Award of the Central Government.

The project plans to invest 467 million yuan to undertake various initiatives, such as the transformation of 170 hectares of mangrove habitats, the planting of 93 hectares of mangroves, the construction of a 35-hectare oyster reef area, the restoration of 60 hectares of five beaches, including Changsha and Yuliao, the repair of 25.5 hectares of greenway vegetation, and the establishment of a digital ecological protection and management platform. Once completed, the Cangnan Mangrove area will expand by over 80%, with a total area of nearly 3,000 mu(2 million m²), making it the largest bay mangrove ecosystem in the province.

According to statistics, in addition to this recent selection, the city has been approved four national“Blue Bay” projects and three provincial“Blue Bay” projects since 2016. These projects have received 843 million yuan from the central government and 106 million yuan from the provincial government, making Wenzhou the city with the largest number of projects and funds in Zhejiang Province.

The marine ecological protection and restoration projects in the city have received national recognition in recent years, providing the“Wenzhou Experience” to the entire country. For instance, the practice of“building mangroves into a bridgehead northward in Cangnan” was recognized as one of the top ten typical cases of marine ecological protection and restoration in 2023 by the Ministry of Natural Resources. Additionally, the“Dongtou Blue Bay Remediation Action” was included in the“Typical Cases of Ecological Restoration in China”.(ZhongXin)