South Africa has taken a proactive step in wildlife conservation, introducing a 10-year agreement to establish no-fishing zones around six key breeding sites of the endangered African penguin.
This landmark initiative aligns with the global spotlight of World Oceans Day, falling on June 8 this year.
The African penguin population continues to decline, driven by overfishing of their primary food sources, sardines and anchovies, alongside human activities including increased maritime traffic and port development.
Research shows that African penguins are declining at a rate of 8 percent per year. It is feared that by 2035, African penguins will be extinct in the wild. As a result, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed this species as "critically endangered."
Boulders Beach, an African penguin conservation site on the Cape Peninsula in Simon's Town, Cape Town, is home to over 1,000 penguins. While it welcomes tourists as a popular attraction, many visitors remain unaware of the looming threat of extinction these penguins face.
"They should be roughly 2,000 here, but they're declining all the time. Some of the colonies have disappeared already," said Wayne, a tour guide.
A 1907 photograph reveals a thriving population of African penguins, estimated at 3 million. Over the years, human activities and environmental impact have drastically reduced their numbers to less than one percent of their historic population.
"So what they do is that they would just wipe out so much guano from the colony, and they would actually send it back to Europe, where they would use it for fertilizer. They used to call it white gold because it was so valuable. But that's illegal now, obviously. And then they also used to steal their eggs, they would use their eggs to eat. So guano is just penguin poop, and the guano is really good for keeping the heat in the nests and also to prevent the eggs from overheating. And if the guano isn't there, either the parents have to abandon the eggs because it gets too hot or the chicks die of overheating," said Tiffany Johnson, keeper of the Two Oceans Aquarium Penguin.
South Africa establishes non-fishing zones to save endangered penguins
South Africa establishes non-fishing zones to save endangered penguins
A new round of trade-in subsidy program is energizing China's consumer market these days, with provinces across the country seeing a surge in demand for cars, home appliances and digital devices.
In north China's Shanxi Province, the new trade-in subsidy program, which started on January 9, has further helped boost sales in home appliances and digital devices which are covered by the new round of subsidies.
To enjoy the subsidies, six types of home appliances, including refrigerators and washing machines, must meet national Level 1 energy-efficiency or water-efficiency standards. Digital and smart products include four types, such as mobile phones and tablets, with a sales price cap of 6,000 yuan (about 800 U.S. dollars) per item.
In both categories, subsidies are set at 15 percent of the final transaction price. For home appliances, the maximum subsidy is 1,500 yuan per item. For digital products, the cap is 500 yuan per item. Each consumer can receive a subsidy for one unit in each category.
Neighboring Shanxi, Hebei Province kicked off the year of 2026 with the new round of trade-in subsidy program starting on January 1.
The subsidies cover automobiles, home appliances, and digital products. Individual consumers who purchase designated Level 1 energy-efficiency appliances or eligible digital products priced at no more than 6,000 yuan can receive subsidies equal to 15 percent of the transaction price. The maximum subsidy is 1,500 yuan per appliance and 500 yuan per digital or smart device, with each person limited to one subsidized item in each category.
Data showed that from Jan 1 to 9, Hebei's home appliance trade-in program alone disbursed more than 130 million yuan in subsidies, driving sales of over 920 million yuan.
In east China's Jiangsu Province, the new trade-in subsidy program, taking effect for two weeks, has brought the province a boom in trade-in.
At a local 4S store in Jiangsu's Suqian City, showroom traffic has spiked as salespeople walked customers through the new benefits from the trade-in subsidy program.
"Under the scrappage-and-replacement scheme, customers who buy a new energy vehicle (NEV) can receive a subsidy worth 12 percent of the vehicle price, capped at 20,000 yuan (about 2,860 U.S. dollars). For combustion-engine cars, the subsidy is 10 percent, with an upper limit of 15,000 yuan. For trade-ins, NEVs are able to receive a subsidy worth 8 percent of the vehicle price, up to 15,000 yuan, while combustion-engine cars will receive a 6-percent subsidy, with a cap of 13,000 yuan," said Sun Yue, a saleswoman at the store.
In the home appliance sector, Jiangsu's policy this year stipulates that only products that meet China's Level 1 energy-efficiency standard are eligible for subsidies. The scheme covers six major categories, including refrigerators and washing machines.
Consumers who purchase qualifying appliances can receive a subsidy equal to 15 percent of the final retail price, up to a maximum of 1,500 yuan per item. Each person is limited to one subsidized unit per product category.
Four types of digital and smart products, such as mobile phones and tablets, are eligible for a 15-percent subsidy capped at 500 yuan per unit, with a retail price no more than 6,000 yuan.
"With the national subsidy policy back in place this year, I went to the store to check what discounts I could get. It knocked 500 yuan off the price. [The discounted price is] very reasonable," said Wang Kang, a resident of Jiangsu's Xuzhou Province.
To enhance the shopping experience for consumers, many retailers are pairing subsidies with "one-stop" services that combine the delivery of new products with on-site collection of old ones.
"After consumers place an order for new home appliances, our staff will schedule a time to pick up the old units. Recycling the old appliance can also further offset the purchase price of the new one," said Yang Jie, a sales supervisor at a major home appliance company.
China's new trade-in program sparks consumption boom
