Jiangsu makes new strides in wetland protection

2023-02-02 16:13:00

World Wetlands Day falls annually on February 2, and this year’s theme is “it’s time for wetland restoration.” Jiangsu Province has made new achievements in the restoration and protection of wetlands, such as their increasing integration into urban life and development.

A visit to the wetlands at Xining Village in Jiangning District, Nanjing City on February 1 was greeted by a beautiful view of clean water, fields and a swath of Phragmites australis, or the common reed. Zhang Hui, an officer of the village, said little egrets flying over the water and young people playing basketball on the shore constitute a typical rural life scene at sunset. The wetlands development featured ditch works to create a wildlife habitat so as to increase biodiversity as well as added venues for recreation or workout to the benefits of local villagers.

Tiaozini wetlands in Yancheng City is home to many migratory birds that winter here, including near half of the world’s population of the critically endangered spoon-billed sandpiper and also the highest number of Nordmann's greenshank (Tringa guttifer) ever recorded. More than 200,000 wading birds were spotted to make a stopover during the spring migration last year.

Wetlands are places where land and water meet and mingle, and people have always favored such areas to live since ancient times, according to Wang Hui, a professor at College of Landscape Architecture, Nanjing Forestry University. Wang, also director of the university’s National Park and Reserve Research Center, said wetlands in a broad sense include ponds, marshes, lakes, seasonal rivers and areas of marine water, the depth of which does not exceed six meters at low tide.

Nanjing’s Xuanwu Lake is not only a park and tourist attraction close to the City Wall of Ming Dynasty but also has a vibrant wetland area. Zhang Xiaojun, the park’s executive deputy director, said ecological restoration programs have been carried out in shallow water area since 2014, such as the use of aquatic plants to improve water clarity.

Wang Yong, deputy director of the Wetland Protection Division of the Nanjing Municipal Greening and Landscape Bureau, said one of the work priorities this year is the protection and restoration of small or micro wetland areas.

In 2022, Nanjing added 285 hectares of natural wetland protection area and also improved the ecosystem at Longpao Wetlands Park and other destinations through diverse measures, such as river-lake connectivity and vegetation restoration.

"We have been committed to the protection and restoration of urban and rural wetlands so they become more beautiful and natural," said Yao Zhigang, deputy director of the wetland protection station in Jiangsu.

At present, Jiangsu has 63 wetlands of provincial importance, 2 wetlands recognized of internationally importance and 28 national wetland parks. The province has placed more than 1.2 million hectares of natural wetlands under protection, or 64.3% of the total, and plans to increase the protection rate to 65% by 2025.