The coastal and gulf regions are the focus of economic and social development, where economic and social development is high, shouldering supporting national and even international regional economic development. Against this background, the 2022 China Marine Economy Expo was held in the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center from November 24 to 26, with the theme of “Sharing the deep blue through technological innovation”. The Forum on Innovation and Practice of Marine Ecological Restoration Technology held on November 24 was co sponsored by ZEHO ECO Sustainable Development Institute, Shenzhen SEZ Construction and Development Group Co., Ltd. and Shenzhen Global Marine Center City Construction Promotion Association, undertaken by Shenzhen SEZ Marine Industry Development Co., Ltd. and Shenzhen Maritime Expo Co., Ltd., and co-organized by the Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources.

2022 China Marine Ecology Expo

Forum on Innovation and Practice of Marine Ecological Restoration Technology

Zhang Yijun, Chairman of Beijing ZEHO Waterfront Ecological Environment Treatment Co., Ltd. (ZEHO ECO), addressed the forum. She said that while the structure of the marine industry was constantly optimized and emerging marine industries were increasing, the sustainable development of the ecological environment in coastal and bay areas also became the focus of attention. This time, we invited scholars from top domestic research institutions, representatives of NGOs, as well as experts and institutions from the United States, the Netherlands and Germany in marine ecological restoration, coastal urban design and intelligent marine management. We hope we can use this platform to promote technology sharing in the same industry, build consensus, form a joint force, and jointly promote resource sharing and technological progress in marine ecological restoration, contribute to the development of China’s blue economy.

ZEHO ECO Chairman Zhang Yijun delivers a speech to the forum

Zhang Yan, representative of IUCN in China, first shared the theme of “blue natural capital and Nature-based solutions (NbS)”. He mentioned that coastal and marine ecosystems can be called blue natural capital, and ecosystems that have been protected, restored and sustainably managed can provide human well-being and biodiversity benefits while helping to cope with climate change, thus forming a kind of NbS. He introduced the reasons, concepts, connotations and cases of Blue Capital and the NbS to help people from all walks of life better understand relevant concepts and promote exchanges and cooperation.

Zhang Yan, Representative of IUCN in China

Zhang Lei, Director of ZEHO ECO Marine Restoration Center, delivered a speech on “From rivers and lakes to oceans - exploration and practice of ecological engineering methods for coastal ecological restoration”. Zhang Lei introduced that the ecological engineering method is a new engineering technology proposed by NbS. ZEHO ECO takes the application of the ecological engineering method in the ecological construction of rivers and lakes as the starting point and gradually extends the ecological engineering method to the coastal ecosystem construction through continuous change and practice. The sharing took the Fengpei Canal Project in Peixian County, Xuzhou City, the Blue Bay Project in Mazu City, Putian City, and the Lingshan Island Peak Project in Nansha, Guangzhou, as examples to introduce the process to the guests. The Key Laboratory for Marine Ecological Protection and Restoration of the Ministry of Natural Resources, jointly established by the Third Marine Research Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and the Island Research Center of the Ministry of Natural Resources, has developed the ecological engineering method module transfer technology based on the concept of NbS, which can solve the problems of low survival rate of strong coastal vegetation and high offshore construction costs. The coral reef module has solved the problem of low survival rate of corals in strong coastal areas. It will be promoted to the southeast coast in the future.

Zhang Lei, Director of ZEHO ECO Marine Restoration Center

Qi Hongshuai, the Researcher of the Third Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Director of Laboratory of Coastal and Marine Geology, shared “Technology and Practice of Sand Coast Protection and Restoration - From Beach Conservation to Dynamic Coast Construction”. Beach is an important coastal space resource with great economic value and rich social functions. As a sustainable technical means for beach restoration, protection and management, beach conservation has become a supporting technology for coastal ecological restoration in China and is the best choice for sandy coast protection worldwide. In the speech, he proposed that the beach conservation is gradually moving towards the concept of building a dynamic coast by integrating geomorphic system and ecosystem, and made a detailed introduction to the current situation.

Qi Hongshuai, the Researcher of the Third Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Director of Laboratory of Coastal and Marine Geology

Yang Bo, Vice President of AECOM China, Managing Director of AECOM (Tianjin) Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd., shared “the application of coastal space NbS & China’s coastal ecological landscape practice”. In recent years, Professor Yang Bo has been committed to actively promoting the research and application of NbS in waterfront ecological restoration and landscape construction with his peers at home and abroad, focusing on responding to the dynamic conditions of the marine environment in the marine environment, and analyzing the principles and engineering logic of realizing and building NbS in the coastal environment in response to the coastal environment and power. Through a series of successful cases of coastal ecological restoration, coastal infrastructure and coastal landscape construction in the world, the technical method, design logic and innovative measures around NbS, such as “natural materials, environmental dynamics, ecological guidance and human intervention”, are summarized and put forward.

Yang Bo, Vice President of AECOM China, Managing Director of AECOM (Tianjin) Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd.

Wang Hongda, Vice President of ZEHO ECO Digital Technology Smart Ocean Research Institute, delivered a speech on “Research and Exploration of Marine Digital and Smart Monitoring Technology”. He pointed out that the demand for digital transformation and application of marine ecological environment governance is growing day by day. ZEHO ECO heeled the national policy and market demand, and carried out relevant research and application exploration in marine ecological monitoring and assessment, intelligent mangrove wetland monitoring and early warning, marine blue carbon assessment, etc. The marine ecological butler product developed based on technological innovation is a digital platform serving the coastal marine ecosystem, including six functional modules of environmental monitoring, intelligent management, ecological assessment, blue carbon accounting, product experience and popular science education. It provides decision support, popular science education and other services, and has formed a pilot project in Blue Bay, Putian, Fujian Province, coral reefs in Dongfang City, Hainan Province and other places.

Wang Hongda, Vice President of ZEHO ECO Digital Technology Smart Ocean Research Institute

Qian Kun, founding partner and chief designer of Tekuma Frenchman, shared “Design and Thinking on Marine City Civilization”. He proposed that the sea city did not come to the stage of history until the rise of the Great Navigation Age; In the 21st century, with the further development of globalization and technological progress, the marine city has become a leading role in the development of urban civilization. He started from the three important topics of contemporary marine urban space design - space creation, heritage regeneration and natural regeneration, and combined with Tacoma’s urban design practice, shared the design and thinking about marine urban civilization.

Qian Kun, founding partner and chief designer of Tekuma Frenchman

At the forum, Liao Baowen, Director of the Mangrove Research Center of the Institute of Tropical Forestry of the Chinese Academy of Forestry Sciences, Ye Qinghua, Senior Researcher of Deltares in the Netherlands and Project Leader of China, Zheng Nengshi, the Founder of Environmental Consulting of Nengshi Zheng PADDI, Germany, Independent Consultant, Expert of ADB, and Chen Shunyang, Researcher of the Third Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources, also had wonderful professional sharing.

Liao Baowen, Director of the Mangrove Research Center of the Institute of Tropical Forestry of the Chinese Academy of Forestry Sciences

Ye Qinghua, Senior Researcher of Deltares in the Netherlands and Project Leader of China

Zheng Nengshi, the Founder of Environmental Consulting of Nengshi Zheng PADDI, Germany, Independent Consultant, Expert of ADB

Chen Shunyang, Researcher of the Third Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources

China Marine Economy Expo is the only national marine economic exhibition in China. After moving to Shenzhen in 2019, it has successfully held two sessions, making positive contributions to promoting the high-quality development of China’s marine economy and promoting international marine economic exchanges and cooperation. The successful holding of this forum will provide the most advanced innovative solutions and technical solutions for the international marine ecological restoration technology field through the sharing of theoretical and practical achievements in many aspects such as sea wall construction, coastal animal and plant protection, smart coastal management, coastal urban design and low-carbon cycle.

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