简体中文
China is treading cautiously to boost ecotourism to protect millions of migratory birds and vast swathes of wetlands.
For centuries, China’s food-rich intertidal mudflats around the Yellow Sea have attracted more than 50 million migratory birds annually from the Arctic region, Australia and New Zealand.
In the last few years, land reclamation for industrialization and urbanization depleted more than 70 percent of mudflats, destroying migratory birds’ habitat. Concerned with the massive ecological damage, China formulated a policy to protect depleting coastal wetlands by banning any new reclamation.
Despite a strong policy in force, ornithologists are collaborating with the government to attract birdwatchers to these mudflats to ensure a steady vigil around the coastal wetlands through community participation.
Terry Townshend, director of Eco-Action, told CGTN that environmental groups have been teaming up with local governments and communities to promote birdwatching as part of an effort to encourage greater environmental awareness.
"These tourists also act as a deterrent to illegal activities such as poaching and unlawful habitat degradation.”
Volunteers feed white storks at a wetland in Tianjin, North China, December 15, 2012.
A similar approach was adopted for restoring Sanjiang Plain Wetlands where nearly 80 percent of the wetlands and surrounding wetland forest have disappeared. The area, once teeming with migratory birds, started witnessing the thinning arrival of winged guests.
A collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and local farmers along with birdwatchers restored 3,441 hectares of farmland into wetlands. They also developed 10,090 hectares of new forest in six nature reserves, increasing the avian population from 510,559 to 683,612 in 2013.
Experts say that birding events are becoming a popular phenomenon in Tianjin, Liaoning, Yunnan, Guangxi and Shanghai.
China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) along with Tianjin authorities are hosting the second edition of the city's birding event from March 16 to 18.
The region’s wetland attracts 88 bird species including the Spoonbill Sandpiper, a critically endangered bird with a population of just 220, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The region also witnesses the arrival of Relict Gull, Oriental White Stork, Common Shelduck and Bean Goose.
“We are creating community awareness to protect both migratory birds and wetland in Tianjin-Binhai region,” said Ren Xiaodong, director of the liaison department at CBCGDF.
“Birds’ behavior is a crucial indicator of rising pollution and climate change. We need to protect them and their habitat,” he added.
Almost the entire world population of Relict Gull, Sunder’s Gull and Spoonbill breeds in the Bohai Bay at the border of northern Hebei Province and Tianjin Municipality. The CBCGDF is carefully chalking out the event to prevent damage and disturbance to the bird habitat. “We are giving a guided tour and involving participants to count the migratory birds,” Ren said.
Townshend claimed China's coast has suffered from land reclamation, pollution, and illegal activities, even in protected areas. If managed carefully, ecotourism has the potential to provide economic benefits to local people while preserving the biodiversity and natural beauty of the coastline.
He pointed out that a few species of birds like Spoon Billed Sandpiper shed their feathers while wintering in Tianjin-Bohai Bay.
These birds grow new strong wings to fly back to the Arctic and a few species of birds feast on mudflats, and on their return journey shrink their body to make themselves light enough to fly thousands of miles to Australia.
“These spectacular events attract tourists in large numbers. And tourists are slowly learning nuances of ecotourism, but a natural heritage status to wetland similar to that of the Great Wall or Terracotta Army, will be an effective step towards preservation,” he said.
(CGTN)
