On July 8, the 2023 Guiyang International Forum on Ecological Civilization, sponsored by the Guizhou Provincial People's Government, hosted by the Guizhou Provincial Water Resources Department and the World Association of Soil and Water Conservation, was held in Guiyang on the theme of "firmly establishing the concept of 'Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets' - building a beautiful China in harmony with people and water".

The main purpose of this forum is to firmly establish and practice the concept of "Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", discuss advanced concepts and practices in the construction of ecological civilization and soil erosion management, reform and innovate institutional mechanisms, and promote high-quality development of water conservancy.

In recent years, China's soil and water conservation has made remarkable achievements in effectively preventing the increase of man-made soil erosion, continuously reducing the stock of soil erosion, and providing strong support for the comprehensive promotion of the rural revitalization strategy.

At the forum, the participants focused on the four units of "academician perspective lecture, domestic experience exchange, social responsibility, international experience sharing", with an overall vision, strategic thinking and global perspective, and made suggestions for the construction of ecological civilization. Prof. Miodrag Zlatic, the former President of the WASWAC, attended in the conference and gave a keynote speech.

"This is a spiritual feast of emancipation! The 12 speakers and exchange speakers, closely following the theme of the forum, contributed valuable wisdom to the construction of water ecological civilization." Prof. Ning Duihu, the president of WASWAC and the moderator of the forum, said.

Guizhou province is located in the hinterland of southwest China, and the terrain is mainly mountainous and hilly, which is one of the most typical areas of karst landscape development and is very prone to soil erosion.

In recent years, Guizhou province has continued to implement many soil erosion control projects such as sloping arable land control, rock desertification control, returning farmland to forest and grass. Through a series of powerful measures to protect water and soil, the province's soil erosion area has been reduced from 55,300 square kilometers in 2011 to 45,700 square kilometers in 2022, and the soil conservation rate has increased from 68.63% in 2011 to 74.03% in 2022, achieving a "double reduction" in soil erosion area and intensity", soil erosion has been effectively curbed.