China's Blue Bay initiative recognized as UN World Restoration Flagship

China's Blue Bay Restoration Initiative was named a United Nations World Restoration Flagship on Thursday in Yerevan, Armenia, during the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17).

The initiative, led by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Finance, is the second Chinese program to receive this honor, following the Shan-Shui Initiative which was among the first global flagships in 2022. This achievement makes China the first country to have two World Restoration Flagships.

The World Restoration Flagship, jointly established by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization, is a global recognition under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.