The inaugural meeting of the Ecological Protection and Restoration Sub-Committee of the China Association for the Promotion of Ecological Civilization was successfully held in Nanjing on May 23, 2024. Nearly 50 representatives from over 20 organizations, including the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Jiangsu Association for the Promotion of Ecological Civilization, the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Ecological Environment, the People's Government of Liuhe District in Nanjing, and the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences of Lanzhou University, participated in the event. The Sub-Committee appointed Professor Haopeng Geng, Vice Dean of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Lanzhou University, as Deputy Chairman. Professor Xia Wang from Lanzhou University gave a keynote speech.

The China Association for the Promotion of Ecological Civilization (hereinafter referred to as the Association) is a professional, non-profit social organization approved by the State Council, registered with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and supervised by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. It is the first social organization in China to focus primarily on the construction of ecological civilization. The Association is composed of individuals dedicated to the cause of ecological civilization, as well as enterprises, institutions, and social organizations related to ecological civilization, voluntarily joining together to assist the Party and the government in promoting ecological civilization. It undertakes a series of tasks, including ecological civilization policy research, technical services, and platform construction, and hosts national-level activities such as the "National Ecological Civilization Construction Demonstration Zone" and the "China Ecological Civilization Award."

The Ecological Protection and Restoration Sub-Committee is an important organizational body under the Association and a significant brand of the Association. Under the leadership of the Association, the Sub-Committee will enhance ecological protection and restoration efforts from the perspective of maintaining national ecological security, the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, and the responsibility to human civilization. It will promote the development of new productivity in the industry, organize and coordinate social forces from various sectors, participate in research on industry standard systems, accelerate the development of applied technologies for ecological protection and restoration, build an independent innovation system for science and technology, and strive to explore innovative approaches to promote high-quality industry development, contributing to the construction of a beautiful China.

As one of the main initiators of the Ecological Protection and Restoration Sub-Committee, the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences of Lanzhou University will focus on the fragile ecological zones in the western region. Relying on key research platforms such as the Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, Ministry of Education, and the State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, it will further carry out region-specific work such as grassland ecological restoration in cold and arid areas, forest land ecological restoration, comprehensive management of saline-alkali land, ecological compensation and regional development, carbon accounting, and carbon trading. Additionally, it will collaborate with other initiating units to build a bridge for ecological civilization construction, aiding in the ecological protection and restoration of the fragile ecological zones in the western region.