Jiaozhou Bay's wetlands may continue to be a habitat for birds
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The undated picture shows birds flying over the skies of the Jiaozhou Bay's wetland areas.[Photo: QDRADIO]

Wetlands at the Jiaozhou Bay used to be a poetic habitat for birds.

However, the Jiaozhou Bay's wetland areas shrank year by year due to continuous excessive sewage discharge and land reclamation projects. As a result, the number of migratory birds flying here decreased.

Recognizing the necessity of wetlands' protection, efforts are now underway to attract migratory birds back home. The main site composed of crystal-clear water and green shore surface grown with a small number of lesser creatures has also gradually been restored.

"There are a lot more birds now. It's fascinating to observe birds flashing down to catch fish."

The Tangdaowan Binhai Park in the city of Qingdao is a picturesque location, where a small flock of ducks is playing on the water surface while a few senior citizens carefully hold their fishing rods, waiting for the fish to take the bait.

Wang Ronggui is also fond of fishing in the Tangdaowan Binhai Park. He described the changes he has observed over the years.

"Seagull will fly here soon this season. Today, local people have a much stronger awareness about the wetland protection. The park area used to be a village, which underwent gradual expansions till the hill."

A photographic view of the revolving evergreen mountains, clear and glittering waters, as well as small birds that flitted about in the branches has much to offer regarding vitality and freshness at Jiaozhou Bay's wetland areas.

Migratory birds fly freely across borders. Jiaozhou Bay is situated on one of the world's eight major flyways for migratory birds, stretching from East Asia to the Australian. Local wetlands serve as a key attraction for migratory birds arriving at Jiaozhou Bay.

However, with the rapid urbanization process, some of the original wetlands gradually disappear.

Yang Song, a resident of Red Island fishing village, shares his unexpected findings."The intent of filling the wetland made me sad. Fortunately, there's a piece of well-preserved wetland that provides home for migratory birds. Birds create a lively scene as they forage on a reed branch.""The protection of migratory birds means to give priority to a critical protection of its homeland."

From 2012 to 2014, the municipal forestry bureau completed a survey on local wetland areas, the second of its type in Qingdao. The survey shows that the city owns a wetland area as large as 140 thousand hectares, seeing a 27% dicrease in ten years' time, among which the wetland at Jiaozhou Bay seeing a drop by almost half in size than that of a decade ago.

The number of migratory birds was slipping year by year along with a continuous decline in Jiaozhou Bay's wetland areas.

Yang Xiaojing is a fan of photography, who is particularly interested in taking pictures of migratory birds. He complained he could hardly spot migratory birds in recent years."The other side is not wetland anymore. I remember in my childhood, I could observe lots of bird species, including a large number of aigrette. However today we could only find one or two aigrette at certain locations. Awareness about environment protection should be strengthened among us."

In 2014, the Jiaozhou Bay wetland's protection campaign ushered in a historic moment: Jiaozhou Bay's Protection Ordinance took effect on September 1. Soon later, a committee tasked with the Jiaozhou Bay's protection was set up, banning activities such as the development of real estate in wetland areas.Sun Daqing is head of Qingdao Wildlife and Forest Plant Conservation centre. In his opinion, the most effective part of this new ordinance is to put the wetland protection into a system of assessment on local authorities' performances.

"Since 2014, the situation gradually improved. The municipal government has included wetland protection into a system that assesses district governments' performances. Once a wetland was destroyed or encroached upon, the relevant district government would be marked down. To date, it proves to be an effective measure."

In 2016, a ten-year plan on Qingdao city's wetland protection was drawn and put under deliberation of legislators from the municipal people's congress.Jiaozhou Bay's wetland is sheltered under long-term planning and legislation. According to Sun Daqing, a monitoring system that keeps a close watch on the wetland areas around the city is gradually taking shape.

"The city is composed of a total of 534 plates, with each occupying more than eight hectares' land.We would receive an alarm from a satellite remote sensing system that may detect any ongoing destruction of a wetland. Each single alarm would be marked with a different color on this map."

Following several years' efforts, the decline of wetland at Jiaozhou Bay was curbed.

A survey conducted at the end of 2016 shows a total of 391 types of birds are now discovered in Qingdao, four types more than that of two years ago.

Wang Ximing is a senior engineer with Qingdao municipal forestry bureau."Four Chinese crested terns, a unique seabird in Qingdao, were spotted last August at Jiaozhou Bay. It was first discovered in Qingdao in 1937, and hadn't been observed again until August 28th."

Continuing all the way southward, one would finally reach the mouth of the Dagu River where it flows into the Jiaozhou Bay. Here people may feed their eyes with lush aquatic plants and reed, and also with a handsome appearance of water fowls occasionally flying over reed.It's the true poetry that the modern-day Jiaozhou Bay attempts to capture and offer.

Author： 　　　Source：CRI　　　 Editor：Yang Fan