Research On The Legislative Issues Of Grassland Protection In China

Along with the economic progress, the impact of human activities on naturalenvironment has become increasingly great, and the ecological environment hassuffered great damage. In today’s society facing increasingly serious ecological crises,the grassland deterioration problems should not be ignored, as grassland is animportant constituting part of the ecosystem. Grassland resources are reproducibleand develop-able. They have both great economic values and high humanistic values.In the past, due to growing demands for economic interests, people ignored theprotection of the natural ecosystem, which resulted in a decline in the grasslandcarrying capacity. As a result, natural disasters occurred frequently, thus causingserious grassland deterioration in the world. Faced with this grim reality, manycountries have developed grassland protection-related laws and regulations. Americaand Australia have gained great achievements in the field of grassland protection.They are in the leading position in grassland protection legislation, and get manyadvantages worth learning. China is rich in grassland resources, but it suffers seriousdeterioration in its grasslands. A series of legal measures have been developed toprotect grasslands in China. However, more work should be done in grasslandprotection. In this context, this research is made to investigate grassland protectionlegislation in China, in hope of contributing to grassland protection in China. In thispaper, ideas are presented from following four aspects.Firstly, the general situation of China’s grassland resources is introduced, andthe great significance of grassland protection legislation in China is proven. Adetailed introduction is made to the general situation of grassland resources in China.Examples and relevant data are given to describe the general situation and protectionof grasslands in China, respectively from macro and micro perspectives. In addition,impacts of grassland deterioration on ecological functions, biodiversity and otheraspects are figured out. Based on an investigation of the serious grasslanddeterioration and its damages, it is concluded that laws, as a coercive instrument, should be employed to protect grasslands. Therefore, it is of great significance todiscuss about grassland protection legislation.Secondly, the development process of grassland protection legislation in Chinais introduced, and its current situation is analyzed and evaluated. The developmentprocess of building the grassland legal system in China is described, so as to gain anoverview of the existing grassland legislative system in China. All laws andregulations related to grassland protection are collected and collated. Contents in the“Grassland Law” are expounded in a systemic way. Focus is placed on contentsrelated to grassland protection and management. In2003, the “Grassland Law”, as thecore of the grassland legal system in China, clearly stated basic requirements forgrassland protection and rational use of grassland resources, and expand relevantcontents related to grassland protection and use. However, it still gets somedeficiencies. In this paper, deficiencies in grassland protection legislation in China aresummarized, and causes of problems are analyzed. Deficiencies in grasslandprotection legislation are mainly reflected by following four aspects. Firstly, the“Grassland Law” fails to well coordinate with relevant legal systems. Secondly, theconcept of grassland protection legislation is out-dated. Thirdly, contents of grasslandlegislation are not perfect. Fourthly, more efforts are required for law enforcementand relief.Thirdly, grassland protection legislation systems in foreign countries, especiallyAmerica and Australia, are introduced. On the one hand, laws and regulationsdeveloped by America to protect its grasslands ever since its colonial times, andgrassland protection organs in America are introduced. On the other hand, thesituation of the grassland protection legislation in Australia is described. Moreover,the superiorities of Australia in grassland protection legislation are figured out. Onthe basis of comparisons of the grassland legal system in America and Australia withChina, parts that China should learn from in its grassland protection legislation areidentified.Lastly, the author reflects on deficiencies of China in its grassland protectionlegislation, and puts forward measures for improvement. From what has beendiscussed in the first three parts, it can be seen that China has gotten great achievements in grassland protection, but it has also shown some deficiencies.Therefore, it is quite essential to further improve the “Grassland Law”. Concretemeasures should be taken from following four aspects. Firstly, work should be doneto improve the coordination of the “Grassland Law” with relevant laws. Secondly, theawareness of grassland protection legislation should be improved. Thirdly, contentsof grassland protection legislation need to be enriched. Fourthly, it is quite necessaryto improve grassland protection legislative skills of China. Laws of China should beconstantly improved, so as to achieve the goal of realizing coordinated developmentof economy, society and environment.