China in bid to protect Yellow River wetlands
( 2002-01-23 16:30 ) (8 )

Three provinces, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan, will work together to protect large areas of wetlands in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, China's second largest river.

According to Shanxi Administration of Nature Reserves, the three provinces are drafting an overall plan that targets 330,000 hectares from Yumenkou, between Shanxi and Shaanxi, to Dongbatou, at the border of Henan and Shandong.

The wetlands, which consist of riverbeds, alluvial flats, flood-plains, tributary debouchments and lakes, are home to rich vegetation and wildlife, including 228 species of birds.

Among these birds, the white stork, the white crane and ten others are protected animals of the state. Every year some 10,000 swans, 4,000 common cranes, numerous wild geese and ducks, and many wading birds spend their winter in these wetlands.

The drafting of the plan, aided by a small grant from the Netherlands Committee of the International Union for the Protection of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), started in January and will be completed by June this year. The plan aims to coordinate the protection of bio-diversity and economic development in these densely populated areas.

Sources with the Shanxi Administration of Nature Reserves said the three provinces will sponsor an international seminar to discuss further planning issues and a regional cooperation mechanism.

The wetlands, dubbed the earth's "kidneys", are conducive to water conservation and the prevention of soil erosion and flooding.

China's wetlands are the fourth largest in the world. They are home to some 5,000 different plants, 3,200 species of animals and 770 species of fish. China has abandoned the old approach of developing its 16 million hectares of natural wetlands for agricultural use, in a bid to reinforce the protection of the ecological system.