China sets regular monitoring of its islands  

国家海洋局：建立县级以上常态化海岛监视监测体系

近日，国家海洋局下发《关于建立县级以上常态化海岛监视监测体系的指导意见》(以下简称《意见》)，要求各地建立县级以上常态化海岛监视监测体系，完善信息公开制度，满足公众知情权。[查看全文]

China's oceanic authority is setting up a network to gather basic information such as ecological status and development progress of the country's islands.

In a Wednesday circular, the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) required local oceanic administrations at or above the county level to monitor islands within their jurisdictions and evaluate and release monitoring results to the public on a regular basis.

Such monitoring will target these islands and their surrounding waters, and focus on ecological status, protective efforts, utilization of resources, tourism, natural disasters and emergency situations.

Key ecological factors will include the status of endangered species, coral reefs, mangroves and seaweed beds.

The SOA and province-level oceanic departments are responsible for guiding and supervising inferior departments' monitoring work.