Egrets at Sinopec Zhenhai Refining and Chemical Company in Ningbo. [Photo/Yongpai app]

Ningbo has presented its approach to balancing industrial development with nature conservation at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP17), held in Yerevan, Armenia.

On Oct 21, Zhang Zhe, representing the Ningbo Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau, shared local conservation stories at the opening of the China Pavilion. This marked Ningbo's third appearance at a UN biodiversity conference, following COP15 and COP16.

Despite being home to one of the world's busiest ports and China's largest petrochemical industrial cluster, Ningbo also has a forest coverage rate of around 40 percent and 240,000 hectares of wetlands, the largest area among cities in Zhejiang province.

The city has made the protection of rare and endangered species a priority. Conservation efforts have helped the critically endangered Zhenhai salamander through the establishment of dedicated protected habitats and captive breeding programs, producing nearly 1,000 individuals. Efforts to monitor and attract the Chinese crested tern have resulted in 214 chicks being hatched, accounting for more than 80 percent of the global total. Species such as the Chinese pangolin and Eurasian otter, which had not been recorded locally for decades, have also returned.

Ningbo is also exploring ways to turn ecological gains into tangible value. The city launched China's first blue carbon trading transaction and established the country's first cross-provincial blue carbon account, which now holds about 6,500 metric tons of carbon credits.

At Sinopec Zhenhai Refining and Chemical Company, a 15,000-square-meter ecological garden within the industrial complex provides a habitat for thousands of egrets and other herons every year. Its live birdwatching broadcasts have attracted tens of millions of views worldwide.

"Industrial and ecological progress can go hand in hand in Ningbo," Zhang said.