Since 2021, the China Zhi Gong Party has been implementing a Yangtze River eco-environmental protection project in partnership with east China's Anhui Province. To address the complex challenges of river basin management, the party's central committee has mobilized intellectual resources, forming a think tank of leading experts to launch a five-year 'science and technology empowerment' initiative across the Jianghuai region, which encompasses the lower reaches of the Huaihe and Yangtze rivers.
Among the key participants is Zhang Wei, a member of the China Zhi Gong Party and a professor at Peking University. Zhang has led her team in monitoring biodiversity in Chaohu Lake and the main and branch tributaries of the Wanjiang River in Anhui Province using environmental DNA (eDNA) technology. This technique can precisely identify minute traces of life in water and even detect invasive species that are difficult to spot with the naked eye. 'We capture or collect these minute traces of environmental information and then amplify them,' Zhang explained.
Without the need to fish or disturb aquatic life, eDNA technology allows scientists to assess the biodiversity of a water body simply by analyzing genetic information from water samples. This approach has opened up new pathways for evaluating the effectiveness of the fishing ban on the Yangtze River and conducting biodiversity monitoring. Over the past five years, Zhang's team has worked closely with Anhui University and local environmental protection authorities to establish multiple sampling sites in Chaohu Lake and the Wanjiang River.
Zhang hopes that through targeted oversight, eDNA monitoring technology will be promoted and applied on a more comprehensive scale. 'We hope to set an example so that everyone can do their part to support environmental protection and monitoring in this way,' she said. The initiative underscores the potential of advanced scientific tools to enhance conservation efforts, particularly in large and complex ecosystems like the Yangtze River basin.
The use of eDNA technology represents a significant advancement in environmental monitoring, offering a non-invasive and highly sensitive method for tracking biodiversity. As China continues to enforce its fishing ban on the Yangtze River, such tools will be crucial for assessing the recovery of aquatic ecosystems and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the region's natural resources.
