Wetlands in the Yellow River Basin to Be Under the Strictest Protection System
The reporter learned from the 2015 Yellow River Wetland Protection Network Annual Meeting recently held in Inner Mongolia: From now on, wetlands in the Yellow River Basin will be subject to the strictest protection system, with the goal of ensuring that the existing wetlands in the 9 provinces and regions of the Yellow River Basin do not decrease.
According to reports, the wetland area in the Yellow River Basin is 3.9292 million hectares, with a wetland rate of 4.88%. Among them, the protected wetland area is 2.3257 million hectares, with a protection rate of 59.19%. Many wetlands in the Yellow River Basin, due to their relatively good ecological environment, attract numerous birds to come and inhabit. In the Hulunbuir Grassland, Hulun Lake Wetland, known as the "kidney of the grassland," sees large numbers of birds such as white-naped cranes inhabit and breed there every year (as shown in the photo, by our reporter Wu Yong).
However, for a long time, wetland protection in the Yellow River Basin has faced problems including the compounding of water resource shortages and water quality deterioration, degradation of wetland ecosystem functions in the source and upper reaches of the Yellow River, shrinking of natural wetland areas in the middle and lower reaches, and declining ecological carrying capacity. Wetland protection and management remain relatively weak.
In response, a relevant official from the State Forestry Administration proposed that wetland protection and restoration in the Yellow River Basin must start from water resources, this key element, and properly handle the relationship between economic and social development and ecological protection within the basin. According to the plan, the 9 provinces (regions) of the Yellow River Basin will take unified action to carry out wetland protection and restoration, and gradually resolve prominent problems such as wetland reclamation, unreasonable engineering construction, pollution, and overgrazing.