TEEMING WITH LIFE

China makes headway in wetland conservation By Lu Yan

A waterbird in Fujin National Wetland Park in Fujin City of Heilongjiang Province, on September 1

Yan Jun is more than glad to see an increasing number of Baer’s pochard,a critically endangered duck species,in Wuhan, Hubei Province. As the head of the Wuhan Bird Watching Society, in early November, Yan released a map of the animals’ sphere of activity in the city, also the world’s southernmost known breeding site of the pochards.

Historically, the duck has been breeding in the north and wintering in the south. However, in recent decades, due to environmental changes and habitat destruction, they have been gradually moving south to find new homes. In 2021, it was listed as a national-level protected wild animal species.

“According to our continuous monitoring for many years, the ducks have not only distributed more widely in Wuhan, but also steadily increased in number year by year,” Yan said, adding this rare species has benefited from the city’s efforts in wetland protection and ecological environment improvement in recent years.

Yan further explained that as the duck has highly specific requirements for its habitat and breeding sites, it can be seen as an indicator of the health of wetlands,as factors like water surface area and depth, water quality and the abundance of aquatic organisms available as food can all influence their survival.

The city has been intensifying its efforts to protect wetlands,especially since 2014 when Baer’s pochards were first found breeding in the Fuhe Wetland in Wuhan’s Huangpi District.

Wuhan is also the main venue for the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, held from November 5 to 13. A parallel session is taking place in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting is in both physical and online formats.

Since its accession to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in 1992, China has adopted a series of measures to protect wetlands,including promoting wetland legislation, implementing wetland protection and restoration schemes,designating internationally important wetlands, and carrying out wetland surveys.

Strong protection

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands,also known as the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat, is an intergovernmental treaty adopted in 1971 that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

Known as “the kidneys of the Earth,” wetlands are considered as one of the most biologically diverse ecosystem types on the planet.The treaty says the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands as regulators of water flow and as habitats supporting a characteristic flora and fauna, especially waterfowl; they constitute a resource of great economic, cultural, scientific and recreational value, the loss of which would be irreparable.

China has taken diverse actions to tackle global challenges such as the decreasing wetland area and the degradation of ecological functions.The country has so far designated 64 wetlands of international importance, 602 wetland nature reserves and more than 1,600 wetland parks,according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

Currently, out of 43 cities worldwide recognized for safeguarding urban wetlands by the Ramsar Convention, China boasts 13, the most in the world.

Wuhan is one of those cities.Chenhu Lake there is one of the wetlands designated as wetlands of international importance in China.More than 20,000 migratory birds have been observed in this over 11,000-hectare nature reserve this summer, according to Feng Jiang,an engineer who has been working for the management bureau of the reserve for the past 14 years.

However, the number of birds around Chenhu Lake once declined drastically due to damage to the ecosystem. The water was contaminated mainly by farming and industrial production from upstream. “The polluted lake water was brown and stinky,” Feng told Xinhua News Agency, adding that the wetland reserve’s water quality was rated below the lowest level of China’s five-tier water assessment system before 2019.

In the past three years, local authorities have restored over 5,200 hectares of wetland, demolishing farming facilities and aquaculture nets enclosing the lake, said Feng.

Zhang Jiaxiang, a retired local fisher, said he gets compensation and subsidies from the government after he gave up catching fish there. “I need to seek another profession, but I understand it is good for the environment and humanity. I did it for my future generations,” he toldBeijing Review.

Since 2017, over 6 million yuan ($823,100) has been allocated to villages and their residents neighboring the reserve each year, for their environmental protection efforts, relocation and living expenses.With less human interference, some birds sensitive to water quality have returned. Last year, five Dalmatian pelicans, waterfowls with iconic giant beaks which have a population fewer than 150 in East Asia, were spotted in the wetland, according to Feng.

“When a wild greater flamingo stood among a flock of little waterfowls, everyone was astonished,”Wei Bin, deputy head of Wuhan Bird Watching Society, told Xinhua. “The restored diverse ecology provided the flamingo with plenty of food such as algae, shellfish and insects, while the lush reed clusters were perfect shelters.” He added that the migration route of the greater flamingo was not supposed to pass through there, suggesting that this one might have wandered away from its peers during migration.

The autumn scenery of Hongze Lake Wetland Scenic Area in Sihong County, Jiangsu Province,on October 26

Institutional improvement

On June 1, a new law on wetland protection came into effect,establishing the country’s first specialized law on the issue.According to the law, China will manage wetlands by categories.For instance, it stipulates that the protection and utilization of paddy fields and tidal flats shall be subject to a different set of legal provisions from the protection and utilization of rivers and lakes.

Wetland protection in China used to face multiple challenges due to the lack of specific regulations, excessive utilization and even destruction. The law encourages reasonable utilization of wetlands and ensures healthy wetland ecosystems, generating economic,social, and ecological benefits, said Yang Zhaoxia, head of the ecological law research center at the Beijing Forestry University.

Yang explained that since wetland management involves multiple departments in field such as water conservancy, environmental protection, agriculture and natural resources, the laws and regulations related to wetland protection previously mainly focused on the protection of a single aspect, rather than the overall management of wetland ecosystems. The new law makes a difference.

Following its implementation,the country has been stepping up wetland protection, aiming to increase the wetland protection rate to 55 percent by 2025 and restore over 66,000 hectares of wetlands,according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

Combination photo shows a road running along Chaohu Lake in Hefei City, Anhui Province,on September 6 (above) and a road along the same lake in 2007. As the fifth largest freshwater lake in China, Chaohu Lake is known as the kidney of the Yangtze River

The law prohibits any organization or individual from destroying the habitat of birds and aquatic life in wetlands. It is forbidden to extract peat from peat swamp wetlands or to exploit their groundwater without authorization, according to the law. It is also forbidden to occupy or dig ponds in mangrove wetlands, as well as to fell, dig out or transplant mangroves, or to overharvest mangrove seeds,among other activities.

It also includes provisions for setting up a system of compensation for ecological conservation, requiring enhanced government funding in protecting vital wetlands.

In fact, before the law, several plans were available for protecting wetlands. Various cities or provinces have adopted regulations according to their specific conditions. For example, the city of Wuxi in Jiangsu Province has included small and micro wetlands with an area smaller than 8 hectares into its system in 2021, expanding its protection scope.

Raising awareness

Governments at all levels should raise public awareness of wetland protection, for example, by encouraging activities such as wetland protection days or wetland protection weeks (which may differ in different regions nationwide),according to the law on wetland protection. Education authorities and schools are also required to enhance students’ awareness of wetland protection.

A themed activity was held in Cuihu National Urban Wetland Park in Haidian District during Beijing Wetland Day this year, which fell on September 10. The event was organized by the district environmental authority, which broadcast a video on the ABCs of wetland protection in the park. Visitors participated in a treasure hunt game during which they answered questions at different locations in the park and earned gifts, all the while enjoying the scenery there.

“I want to take my daughter to see the beautiful wetlands, so that she can gain a basic understanding of ecology from childhood and develop an awareness of wetland protection and love for nature,”said a father of a 6-year-old surnamed Wang who took his family to take part in the activity. BR