On July
8, the 2023 Guiyang International Forum on Ecological Civilization, sponsored
by the Guizhou Provincial People's Government, hosted by the Guizhou Provincial
Water Resources Department and the World Association of Soil and Water
Conservation, was held in Guiyang on the theme of "firmly establishing the
concept of 'Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets' - building a
beautiful China in harmony with people and water".

The main
purpose of this forum is to firmly establish and practice the concept of "Lucid
waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", discuss advanced
concepts and practices in the construction of ecological civilization and soil
erosion management, reform and innovate institutional mechanisms, and promote
high-quality development of water conservancy.
In
recent years, China's soil and water conservation has made remarkable
achievements in effectively preventing the increase of man-made soil erosion,
continuously reducing the stock of soil erosion, and providing strong
support for the comprehensive promotion of the rural revitalization strategy.
At the
forum, the participants focused on the four units of "academician
perspective lecture, domestic experience exchange, social responsibility,
international experience sharing", with an overall vision, strategic
thinking and global perspective, and made suggestions for the construction of
ecological civilization. Prof. Miodrag Zlatic, the former President of the WASWAC,
attended in the conference and gave a keynote speech.
"This
is a spiritual feast of emancipation! The 12 speakers and exchange speakers,
closely following the theme of the forum, contributed valuable wisdom to the
construction of water ecological civilization." Prof. Ning Duihu, the
president of WASWAC and the moderator of the forum, said.
Guizhou province is located in the hinterland of southwest China, and the terrain is
mainly mountainous and hilly, which is one of the most typical areas of karst
landscape development and is very prone to soil erosion.
In
recent years, Guizhou province has continued to implement many soil erosion control
projects such as sloping arable land control, rock desertification control,
returning farmland to forest and grass. Through a series of powerful measures
to protect water and soil, the province's soil erosion area has been reduced
from 55,300 square kilometers in 2011 to 45,700 square kilometers in 2022, and
the soil conservation rate has increased from 68.63% in 2011 to 74.03% in 2022,
achieving a "double reduction" in soil erosion area and intensity", soil erosion has been effectively curbed.