Prof. CAO Wenxuan, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, gave an oral presentation  for IHB researchers and students on April 18, 2019. 

Prof. CAO Wenxuan, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, was invited to give an oral presentation with the title of “Protection of the Yangtze River: Issues of Ecological Restoration Facing Cascade Hydroelectric Dam Development in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River” for the researchers and student at Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB) of Chinese Academy of Sciences on April 18, 2019.    

Prof. Cao introduced how to protect and restore the water ecological environment under the background of cascade hydroelectric dam development in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. He focused on the biological characteristics of the endemic fish in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the urgency of ecological environment restoration of the Yangtze River and the serious problems, key regions and important measures to be taken in the ecological restoration of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.    

He suggested that the ecological restoration of major tributaries shall be carried out, the ecological compensation mechanism shall be improved and the monitoring and study on the ecological health of waters shall be strengthened.    

Prof. Cao has been paying close attention to the ecological problems of the Yangtze River for a long time. He has carried out systematic research on the ecological protection of water resources during the construction of water conservancy projects and gave suggestions to the government. He suggested that Chishui River be included into the national nature reserve of rare and endemic fishes in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and has monitored that Chishui River plays an important role in protecting rare and endemic fishes in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.   

Since 2006, Prof. Cao has been calling for a 10-year fishing ban in the Yangtze River. He argued that the ten-year ban can help restore the aquatic organisms and reverse the trend of the degradation of aquatic resources. The fishing ban has been adopted by the country and has become the important measures to protect the Yangtze River.