
□ Rule of Law Daily reporter Zhang Shoukun
Not long ago, zhongshan port Customs, which belongs to Gongbei Customs, intercepted the species of Blattella Latina in the imported logs at zhongshan port Port, which aroused social concern.
Cockroaches, commonly known as cockroaches, have more than 4,000 known species, and are one of the important vectors monitored at customs ports, with strong adaptability and fecundity. As an exotic species, cockroaches are easy to colonize in the invaded areas, posing a threat to the local ecological environment, and may also carry unknown pathogens to spread diseases and endanger human health.
According to the Bulletin on the Ecological Environment of China in 2020 issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, more than 660 alien invasive species have been found in China, of which 71 species have caused substantial harm to the natural ecological environment of the invaded areas, and are listed in the List of Alien Invasive Species in China, and 219 species have invaded many national nature reserves, posing a threat to the ecological environment and species of these protected areas. Data show that invasive species cause direct economic losses of more than 200 billion yuan each year in China.
According to an interview with the reporter of Rule of Law Daily, there are three main ways of alien species invasion: natural invasion, intentional introduction and unintentional introduction. Natural invasion refers to the natural diffusion through self-reproduction and wind, water and animals; Intentional introduction means that people intentionally introduce certain species for the purposes of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery production, ecological environment construction, ecological protection, ornamental and so on, and lose control and lead to escape; Unintentional introduction refers to the spread of a species beyond its natural distribution by using human beings or human transmission systems as a medium. Among the alien invasive species known in China at present, many invasive species are introduced by human beings, which can be prevented theoretically, but the prevention and control effect is very small because of lack of awareness of prevention and control, weak law enforcement, difficulties in judicial identification and other reasons.
Why are there so many alien invasive species in China? How can we effectively prevent and control alien invasive species? With these questions, the reporter recently launched an investigation.
Due to the lack of awareness of prevention and control
Introduce species into invaders
Wang Yan (a pseudonym) from Foshan City, Guangdong Province, is a bilibili UP owner. He usually shares many videos related to alien invasive species, such as red imported fire ants, water hyacinths, snails and tortoises. In his impression, since around 2000, we can see all kinds of alien invasive species in our daily life.
"Alien invasive species are around." Wang Yan said, for example, there are many red imported fire ants in crops, and people are often bitten; There are snails everywhere beside the streams in the village and even in the ponds in the city. Some areas are densely covered with bright pink eggs produced by snails, which look very conspicuous from a distance.
It is also found that there are various alien invasive species around, as well as Ling Yue from Xiamen City, Fujian Province. Due to the climate in Xiamen, when it rains, there will be a lot of African snails in the open space and grass downstairs in Ling Yue’s community. The children in the community don’t understand it, so they catch it and play.
"African snails are full of bacteria and parasites, and some people have died from eating big snails before. The residential property company has cleaned it up several times, but it can’t be finished. But if they are allowed to breed and grow, the harm to residents cannot be underestimated. " Ling Yue said.
Ling Yue’s worries are not unreasonable. It is understood that the African giant snail was introduced into China as an economic species before. After escaping into the wild, it has been out of control in some places because of its strong reproductive ability and increasing number.
Also out of control after artificial introduction, there are water hyacinth, Brazilian tortoise and so on. The former was introduced into China as livestock feed in 1930s, and was popularized and planted as a plant for viewing and purifying water quality, and then escaped to the wild state, which was uncontrollable. The latter was introduced to China in 1980s. After more than 30 years, the living space of native turtles was greatly squeezed.
The impact of snail control is even worse. It can lay 200 to 1,000 eggs at a time, and the number of times of laying eggs is as high as 20 to 40 times a year. A female snail can breed for more than 300,000 after two generations a year. Different from ordinary snails, Ampullaria canaliculata has a variety of food habits and a large amount of food. Before the rice in the field grows well, it will finish eating, and will go ashore to eat other plants and even eat insects and small fish, which will bring serious damage to the aquaculture industry. And the snail is full of germs and is the host of a large number of parasites. In May 2006, more than 160 people in Beijing were infected with Angiostrongylus cantonensis by eating Ampullaria gigas, which caused a major public health emergency.
Why did the alien species originally introduced with good intentions get out of control and evolve into alien invasive species?
Yang Zhaoxia, director of the Ecological Law Research Center of Beijing Forestry University, told reporters that for a long time, from the official to the private sector, from the academic community to the public, there was a lack of awareness of biological invasion prevention and control. For example, due to agricultural production, ornamental, being a companion animal, solving local ecological problems and other reasons, some localities or departments will intentionally introduce species from abroad. However, due to people’s insufficient understanding of biosafety and lack of assessment of its harm degree, some exotic species have become alien invasive species, and they are numerous, widely distributed, developing rapidly and doing great harm.
According to statistics, among the 100 most harmful alien species published by IUCN, there are more than 50 species in China, among which 11 species are the most serious, which cause economic losses of about 60 billion yuan per year.
Invasive species are not banned.
Buying and selling at will increases risk
With the development of economy and society, harmful alien invasive species are regarded as "exotic pets" by many people.
The reporter saw in the online shopping mall that a large number of shops are trading "exotic pets", including alligator eel, Brazilian tortoise, tilapia, big-mouthed bass, halberd beetle, Australian rainbow shovel and so on. On various social platforms, the discussion on how to buy and raise "exotic pets" continues to be hot.
Offline, some alien invasive species also "wander" in stores. In August this year, the agricultural comprehensive administrative law enforcement detachment of Nantong City, Jiangsu Province seized several alligator finches and eels sold as ornamental fish in Shangchao.
According to the White Paper on Pet Industry in China in 2021, in the classification of pet owners in China, the proportion of reptile owners is 5.8%, which is higher than that of rodents (4.5%) and birds (3.6%).
According to the experts interviewed, the "exotic pet" has not been domesticated by human beings, and it still belongs to wild animals in terms of attributes. When some feed owners abandon the "exotic pet" at will, its aggressiveness, toxicity and various pathogenic microorganisms may pose a serious threat to human health.
It is worth noting that many "exotic pets" were disguised and packaged and illegally delivered to the country through cross-border e-commerce and other channels. According to the reporter’s investigation, most shops provide postage service, and it is not allowed to refund for seven days without reason, die or have problems. Some customer service told reporters that they have long-term cooperation with the courier company, and there will be no delivery, and they will not be seized by the regulatory authorities.
Yang Zhaoxia believes that the online trading of "exotic pets" such as crocodile eel, Brazilian tortoise and lizard has not been effectively curbed, mainly because the current legislation has insufficient regulation on trading links, especially online trading.
"According to the Biosafety Law, the Measures for the Administration of Alien Invasive Species and other laws and regulations, China’s prohibition on alien species is mainly that it is not allowed to introduce, release or discard alien species without approval. The law enforcement supervision of trading links, especially online trading, is weak, and the understanding, catalogue, equipment, technology and coordination can’t keep up. In addition, online transactions are hidden and fast, and objectively speaking, law enforcement is difficult. " Yang Zhaoxia analyzed.
Gao Lihong, director of the Institute of Environmental Resources Law of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law and vice president of china law society Environmental Resources Law Research Association, said that China’s current laws and regulations on alien invasive species mainly regulate the import, introduction and carrying of upstream and the discarding and release of downstream. The purchase behavior of midstream is not prohibited by law, mainly considering that the buyer’s ability to judge alien invasive species is insufficient. If it is included in the scope prohibited by law, it is difficult to judge subjective intention. However, in the event of unauthorized release, it will enter the scope of "illegally introducing, releasing or discarding alien invasive species", which may lead to criminal responsibility.
Widely distributed and difficult to eradicate.
There are still obstacles to governing according to law
In the interview, the reporter found that many interviewees expressed the view that "alien invasive species mainly invade rural areas, forests and other remote areas, and cities are less invaded because they rarely see alien invasive species". Is this the case?
Yang Zhaoxia told reporters that some studies have found that among the more than 100 alien pests that have invaded China, there are more than 50 species of pests that have invaded urban ecosystems, and 7 of them are the most threatening invasive insects among the 14 species announced by IUCN (World Conservation Union).
"No matter in urban or rural areas, alien invasive species will pose a serious threat to ecological security and people’s lives." Yang Zhaoxia said.
Since there is a serious threat, governance is urgent. However, the reporter saw on social platforms that many people spoke out that they could not get a timely response when they encountered alien invasive species and reported them to relevant departments. Others report that there are some obstacles in managing alien invasive species according to law.
Zhu Bingcheng, deputy director of the Institute of Environmental Resources Law of China University of Political Science and Law, said that in practice, if a suspected alien species is found, or it is illegally released or discarded, it can be reported to the local agricultural and rural departments, forestry and grassland departments, natural resources departments and ecological and environmental departments according to different situations. If the department responsible for administrative management fails to perform its duties according to law, it may constitute administrative omission, in which case it may be reported to the local people’s government or its superior competent department according to law.
Cao Mingde, a professor of environmental law at China University of Political Science and Law and vice-president of china law society Environmental Resources Law Research Association, said that the Biosafety Law stipulates that the state should strengthen the prevention and response to the invasion of alien species and protect biodiversity. This is the highest-ranking law on alien species invasion at present, and it is also the first time to explicitly include alien species invasion in the scope of legal regulation. However, in addition to the principled provisions of the law, the specific rules with operability can be found in administrative regulations such as the Regulations on the Prevention and Control of Forest Pests and Diseases, departmental regulations such as the Measures for the Administration of Alien Invasive Species and the List of Species Prohibited from Entry for Plant Quarantine, and some local regulations. As far as the whole legislative system is concerned, China lacks the legislative idea of preventing biological invasion in the field of ecological law, and also lacks the scientific thinking of comprehensively preventing wildlife invasion.
"In addition, the law enforcement force is weak, and the illegal acts involving the invasion of alien species are generally characterized by strong concealment and high difficulty in investigation. The professional ability of grassroots law enforcement personnel is required, and many grassroots animal and plant disease prevention and control departments lack young backbones and technicians are stretched." Cao Mingde said that the technical means of law enforcement need to be improved. At present, some forestry pest monitoring work mainly relies on manual on-the-spot inspections, and it is difficult to effectively investigate in steep slopes and dense forest areas in mountainous areas without the conditions of modern science and technology network technology.
"The prevention and control of alien invasive species is by no means a matter of a department or a place. It is necessary to promote the cooperation between ministries and commissions and inter-provincial linkage from the height of national security, conduct a comprehensive investigation of alien invasive species, increase the funding guarantee for prevention and control, and ensure the normal and long-term prevention and control work." Cao Mingde said.
In Gao Lihong’s view, there are also multiple obstacles in judicial regulation of alien invasive species.
"There is a lag and incompleteness in the identification of alien invasive species. Different norms, different regions and different levels have different definitions of the scope of alien invasive species, which leads to difficulties in judicial identification. ‘ Crime of illegally introducing, releasing and discarding alien invasive species ’ According to the current interpretation, its scope is similar to that of the Biosafety Law, the Yangtze River Protection Law and other series of laws and regulations ‘ Alien invasive species ’ The definition of the criminal law is different. The regulated objects of the criminal law only include animals and plants in several lists of alien invasive species that have been published in China, but not microorganisms. " Gao Lihong said.
She pointed out that the complexity of alien invasive species makes it difficult to fix the relevant evidence. Most alien invasive species can’t be traced back to the source except that the customs and other departments seized them on the spot during law enforcement. Because the crime of illegally introducing, releasing and discarding alien invasive species is a new crime, judicial practice lacks internal unified judicial guidance. On the whole, the incrimination, the standard of incrimination, the procedural evidence, and the connection between administrative law enforcement and criminal justice are all in the initial exploration.
Department linkage to prevent invasion
Mass participation in comprehensive prevention and control
On July 4th, 2020, the People’s Government of Dali City, Yunnan Province issued a circular on the comprehensive prevention and control of Ampullaria gigas in Erhai Lake Basin: All cadres, workers and the masses in the basin will be given subsidies and rewards at the price of 40 yuan per kilogram of snail eggs as long as they voluntarily hand over the picked eggs to the local town government and sub-district offices.
Zunyi City, Guizhou Province has also encouraged citizens to capture invasive alien species such as Brazilian tortoises, snapping turtles and "scavengers" in natural waters, and hand them over to law enforcement departments for rewards from 5 yuan to 100 yuan. At the same time, citizens are encouraged to report illegal transactions and release such alien species.
In Yang Zhaoxia’s view, these are all better methods and worth popularizing.
"The construction of ecological civilization is a cause that requires everyone’s participation, but it should be noted that while encouraging ordinary people to eliminate alien invasive species, they should strengthen popular science propaganda and safety precautions to avoid the public from being harmed by bacteria and attacked by animals." Yang Zhaoxia said that while rewarding, it is also necessary to prevent fraud, otherwise it may encourage the invasion of alien species.
In order to focus on key management species and improve the prevention and control level of alien species invasion, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and other departments have recently jointly formulated the List of Key Management Alien Invasive Species, and on the basis of scientific assessment of the risk of species invasion, 59 key management alien invasive species, such as meadow moth, alligator eel, Solidago canadensis, red imported fire ant and snail, have been included.
The species listed in the list are the focus of prevention and control of alien invasive species at present and in the future. The principle of dynamic adjustment is implemented in the list, and the species will be increased or decreased in time on the basis of strengthening the information collection of species occurrence and hazard risk judgment.
"From the legislative level, there is no special law to prevent the invasion of alien species in China, and it can be considered to be included in the legislative system when conditions are ripe. At the same time, the contents of related crimes and culpability in the criminal law system should be updated, and the existing wildlife protection law and the Measures for the Administration of Alien Invasive Species should also be improved and improved as soon as possible. " Cao Mingde said.
In his view, at present, the management level of wild animals and exotic species in China is not commensurate with the severe situation of biosafety crisis, and a complete system of risk assessment, tracking and monitoring, ecological early warning, quarantine, licensing, hazard elimination, ecological restoration, damage compensation and accountability should be established as soon as possible to deal with alien species invasion; Strengthen scientific evaluation and demonstration, and establish a risk assessment system for the introduction of exotic species; On the basis of classified management, improve the licensing system for the introduction and release of exotic species; Establish a follow-up monitoring and emergency response mechanism after species introduction and release; Strict legal responsibility for the invasion of alien species.
At the level of law enforcement, Gao Lihong suggested that, with reference to the "river-lake system" collaborative model, the linkage between administrative law enforcement departments should be realized by establishing mechanisms such as inter-departmental joint meetings, information notification and clue sharing, and at the same time, judicial organs, as non-voting members, should provide legal advice and evidence preservation in time to optimize the connection between administrative law enforcement and criminal justice. In fact, the Measures for the Management of Alien Invasive Species has clearly defined the powers and responsibilities of various functional departments. At present, the main path lies in establishing practical information release systems, monitoring systems and joint meeting systems at all levels and localities.
"In addition, according to the Biosafety Law, the administrative organ will order the perpetrator to ‘ Capture and retrieve within a time limit ’ The possibility of this realization is low, because even professional functional departments need to spend huge costs to remedy the consequences of alien invasive species. In practice, it should be explored that if it is impossible to retrieve or recapture, the actor is required to go to the relevant ecological justice restoration base for reverse restoration equal to the consequences caused by it. " Gao Lihong said that at the judicial level, the establishment of a judicial restoration base for the prevention and control of alien invasive species can be considered, and the forms of responsibility for ecological restoration can be developed.
"Actively play the multiple functions of public interest litigation, supervise the administrative organs to perform their duties, and at the same time investigate the responsibility of individuals or units that endanger public interests with alien invasive species according to law. As soon as possible, we will sort out and publish judicial guiding cases and typical cases for the prevention and control of alien invasive species, and standardize the handling of cases in various places. In addition, for those who deliberately release, release or discard alien invasive species and cause serious ecological and environmental damage, they may consider filing a criminal incidental civil environmental public interest lawsuit. " Gao Lihong said.
In Yang Zhaoxia’s view, for a long time, the express delivery industry has been neglected in the process of preventing the invasion of alien species, which should be paid attention to.
"The relevant laws of the express delivery industry should also pay attention to the role of industry behavior in preventing the invasion of alien species, establish relevant systems for inspecting and preventing alien species, strengthen the regulation and restraint of trading links, clearly stipulate the prohibition of illegal sales and purchase of alien invasive species, and improve the relevant responsibility system." Yang Zhaoxia said.
It is worth mentioning that the reporter found in the investigation that with a lot of publicity in recent days, many people now mention alien species for fear of avoiding them.
Yang Zhaoxia said that alien species should be treated correctly and there is no need to talk about it. "Alien species and alien invasive species are two different concepts. According to the regulations, alien species must meet two conditions to become alien invasive species. One is that alien species can survive and multiply for a long time in the foreseeable future after entering an area, and the other is that it will pose a threat or harm to the ecological environment, the development of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery industries and even human health in the introduced area. In fact, potatoes, carrots, peppers, peppers, etc., which we often eat, are not native to China. They are all alien species, but they are not alien invasive species. "
Comics/Gao Yue