Wetlands in Hubei: More than Scenery

Text by Wang Xunqian,Wang Tong ＆ Zhao Hui Edited by Bai Ning

Spring in Dajiu Lake (Photo by Pan Jianxiang) 大九湖之春（潘建翔 摄）

Chinese mergansers in the Jingmen Zhanghe National Wetland Park 荆门漳河国家湿地公园里，中华秋沙鸭展翅飞翔

Wetlands,often reputed as the “Earth’s kidneys,” have important ecological functions such as water conservation,water purification,biodiversity preservation,runoff storage,climate regulation,and carbon sequestration.As a precious natural resource,it is one of the three major ecosystems of the earth along with forests and oceans.

Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and dotted with rivers and lakes,Hubei is known as the “Province of a Thousand Lakes.” Numerous rivers and lakes meet here and nurture the region’s multitudinous wetlands covering a total area of approximately 1,450,200 hectares.The province has four wetlands of international importance,eight nationally important wetlands,46 provincially significant wetlands,72 wetland reserves(communities),66 national wetland parks,and 38 provincial wetland parks.

On the 25th “World Wetland Day,” we explored various wetlands along the Yangtze River and admired the achievements made by wetland-protection efforts.

湿地，被誉为“地球之肾”，具有涵养水源、净化水质、维护生物多样性、蓄洪防旱、调节气候和固碳等重要生态功能，与森林、海洋并称为地球三大生态系统，是宝贵的自然资源。

湖北，地处长江中游，境内河流纵横、湖泊密布，素有“千湖之省”美誉，众多江河湖泊孕育了湖北湿地大省地位，湿地总面积达2175.3万亩，全省已建成国际重要湿地4处、国家重要湿地8 处、省级重要湿地46 处，建立湿地保护区（小区）72 个、国家湿地公园66 个、省级湿地公园38 个。

值第25 个“世界湿地日”之际，我们走进长江各处湿地，感受湿地保护所取得的成就。

首先，我们来到海拔近2000 米的神农架大九湖湿地。

湖面上，薄雾如轻纱一般在冬日暖阳中渐渐散去，雄浑的山峦顶着蓝天白云倒映水中……隆冬来到这里，仿佛置身一幅泼墨山水画中，感觉就一个字：美！

然而，这份美来之不易。20 世纪60年代，林木采伐砍光了这里的参天古木，大九湖变成高山牧场。1986年至1992年间，人们又把这里开垦成人工草场，兴建梅花鹿场、细毛羊场。 后来，当地人又围湖造田，引水出山，在大九湖建起万亩高山反季节蔬菜基地。

可是，这些所谓的产业并没有带来很好的收益，而大九湖湿地生态系统遭受破坏，湿地功能退化，生物多样性减少。

幡然醒悟后，政府下决心保护并修复大九湖湿地。省委、省政府现场办公，实施生态移民搬迁，把1400 多名大九湖村民搬到20 公里外的坪阡村。经过持续的保护与修复，大九湖7 万亩湿地、草甸及灌木丛回归自然，生机盎然。2006年9月，大九湖成为全国第四个、华中地区首个中国国家级湿地公园；2013年10月，跻身国际重要湿地名录。

湖北省林业局湿地保护中心主任王少明说，大九湖只是湖北省湿地保护修复的缩影，像大九湖这样被“抢救”回来的湿地不少。

在武汉东湖国家湿地公园内，我们骑行在东湖绿道上，观鸟赏花，领略田园风光，好不惬意。湿地科普展示区，小朋友认真观察阅读各种展示牌，从中了解大自然的奥秘，陶冶情操，流连忘返。

武汉大大小小的天然或人工湿地不胜枚举，其中湿地自然保护区5 个，国家湿地公园6 个，省级湿地公园4 个。湿地保护好了，鸟类也越来越多了。近年，武汉鸟类新记录不断刷新，每年都有新鸟类被观测到。2020年，武汉新发现7 种鸟，包括赭红尾鸲、小杓鹬、叉尾太阳鸟、远东苇莺、鸥嘴噪鸥、红嘴巨燕鸥和黑浮鸥，后4 种鸟也是全省首次发现。这些鸟既不是候鸟也不是留鸟，是将武汉作为中途驿站的旅鸟。

近日，观鸟爱好者发布一张青头潜鸭在东湖现身的照片，在武汉观鸟群炸开了锅。

这种青头潜鸭，全球仅存1000只左右，比大熊猫数量还少，被世界自然保护联盟列为极度濒危物种。近几年，青头潜鸭被观察到在武汉府河湿地安家落户，生儿育女，武汉因此被确认为全球已知青头潜鸭的最南繁殖地。目前，武汉共观察记录到青头潜鸭308 只。为进一步加大湿地保护，武汉市将对8 公顷以下的有保护价值湿地建设成小微湿地。

We first visited the Dajiu Lake Wetlands in Shennongjia,which is located at 2,000 meters above sea level.

It was a winter’s day,and a breathtakingly beautiful landscape unfolded before our eyes.The veillike mist on the lake was dissipating in the warm winter sun,revealing majestic mountains under the blue sky and white clouds,whose reflection sparkled on the glistening water.

However,this beauty did not come easily.In the 1960s,logging destroyed the ancient towering trees and turned Dajiu Lake into a mountain pasture.From 1986 to 1992,people reclaimed this area for artificial pastures,where sika deer and fine-wool sheep farms were built.Later,the locals reclaimed crop fields from the lakes,channeled water out of the mountains,and built an off-season vegetable cultivation base of some 667 hectares around Dajiu Lake.

However,instead of the area profiting from these industries,the ecosystem of the Dajiu Lake Wetlands was damaged,causing land degradation as well as compromising biodiversity.

After recognizing the issue,the government was determined to protect and restore the Dajiu Lake Wetlands.The provincial party committee and the provincial government implemented ecological migration and moved more than 1,400 Dajiu Lake residents to Pingqian Village,20 kilometers away.After continued protection and restoration,some 4,667 hectares of wetlands,meadows,and bushes were restored,filling the region with life and vitality.In September 2006,Dajiu Lake became the fourth nationally recognized wetland park in China,the first one in Central China.In October 2013,it was listed as an internationally significant wetland.

Director of the Wetland Protection Center of the Provincial Forestry Bureau,Wang Shaoming,commented that Dajiu Lake is just one example of the wetland protection and restoration efforts in Hubei Province,and there are many more.

While cycling on the East Lake Greenway in the National Wetland Park of Wuhan East Lake,one can watch birds and enjoy flowers,savor the enchanting natural scenery.Children can be seen lingering in the exhibition area of wetland science,reading the various display signs and learning about the mysteries of nature.

Wuhan,the capital city of Hubei Province,boasts numerous natural and constructed wetlands,including five wetland reserves,six national wetland parks,and four provincial wetland parks.When the wetlands are preserved,more birds will come,with new species of birds being observed with each passing year.Last year alone,seven species of birds were newly discovered in Wuhan,including the black redstart,little curlew,fork-tailed sunbird,Manchurian reed warbler,gull-billed tern,Caspian tern,and black tern.The last four were discovered for the first time in the province.These birds are neither migratory birds nor resident birds,but are migrant birds stopping briefly at Wuhan as a midway stop.

生态环境好不好，鸟儿会用脚投票。在湖北龙感湖国家级自然保护区，专家们开展了越冬水鸟调查，观测到水鸟14 万多只，创历史纪录。之所以有这么多鸟光顾，是因为这里湿地生态恢复，生物多样性得到保护，形成完整的生态链，为候鸟提供了充足的食物来源。

绿水青山就是金山银山。湿地更是无限风光，成了人们竞相出游的胜地，给当地人们带来源源不断的收入。

经过几年发展，距大九湖国家湿地公园20 公里开外的坪阡镇，已建设成为神农架旅游小镇，从大九湖搬迁出来的绝大部分村民，从事旅游餐饮住宿等相关行业，人在家中坐，财从天上来。覃万梅就是个典型，她用拆迁补偿款在坪阡镇盖起4 层小楼，办起餐馆，已发展3 家连锁店，仅员工就有100 多人，年均毛收入500 万元。

据统计，坪阡镇每年接待中外游客约60万人，旅游综合收入达1.7亿多元，占全镇经济总收入七成以上，人均旅游业收入过万。

如大九湖一样，全省各地湿地生态红利不断释放。各地湿地公园通过合理利用湿地自然和人文资源，有效促进了生态旅游等产业的发展，为群众创造大量就业机会，更为人们带来看得见摸得着的获得感、幸福感。

The Shishou National Elk Wetlands 石首麋鹿国家重要湿地

Recently,a photo of a Baer’s pochard in East Lake was posted by a bird enthusiast,causing a sensation in Wuhan’s bird-watching group.

With a population of only around 1,000 worldwide,the Baer’s pochard is listed as a critically endangered species by IUCN (the International Union for Conservation of Nature).It is even rarer than the giant panda.In recent years,Baer’s pochards have been observed settling and breeding in the Fuhe Wetlands of Wuhan,becoming the southernmost breeding place for the bird on earth.Thus far,a total of 308 Baer’s pochards have been observed and recorded in Wuhan.To further strengthen wetland protection,Wuhan City will create “mini-wetlands” in places with conservation value and of less than 8 hectares.

Is the ecological environment good in one place? The birds will tell.In the National Nature Reserve of Longgan Lake,an expert survey of overwintering waterbirds has observed more than 140,000 waterbirds-a historical record.The reason for the abundance of birds in the region is wetland protection and restoration.The efforts have preserved biodiversity and formed a complete ecological chain,and provided a sufficient food source for migratory birds.

The translucent waters and green mountains are a cornucopia of treasures.The beauty and vitality of the wetlands have also attracted tourists and brought steady income to the local people.

After years of development,Pingqian Town has become a tourist town in Shennongjia.Most of the villagers that relocated from Dajiu Lake are engaged in tourism,food service,accommodations,and other related industries.They can make a living from their own home now.A perfect example is Qin Wanmei,who had a 4-story house built with the compensation she received after she agreed to relocate to Pingqian Town,where she opened a restaurant.Since then,she has started three chain stores with more than 100 employees and average annual gross revenue of 5 million yuan.

Statistically speaking,Pingqian Town receives approximately 600,000 domestic and foreign tourists each year,with total tourism revenue of more than 170 million yuan,accounting for more than 70 percent of the town’s total economic income.The per capita income brought by tourism is over 10,000 yuan.

Dajiu Lake is just one example among many.The benefits brought by the wetlands can be found throughout the province.When natural resources are used rationally and ecotourism is developed effectively,wetlands can create a large number of employment opportunities for local people and bring along prosperity and well-being.

Due to Hubei’s outstanding achievements in wetland protection and restoration,an announcement was made on June 26,2019 by the 57th Standing Committee of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands that its capital city Wuhan will be the host city for the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the convention.It would be the very first time for this international conference on wetland ecological protection to be held in China.

(Translation: Lu Qiongyao)

鉴于湖北的湿地地位和保护所取得的卓越成绩，2019年6月26日，《湿地公约》第57 次常委会公布了将在中国武汉举办第14 届缔约方大会的决议。这是中国首次召开这一国际性湿地生态保护盛会。

The Qingshan Mountain National Wetland Park in Chongyang 崇阳青山国家湿地公园