Northwestern China's Gansu Province has adopted a regulation to better protect its wetlands, following similar regulations passed this year by the northernmost Heilongjiang Province and east China's Jiangxi Province, another two provinces in the country.

Wetlands, the so-called "kidneys of the earth", are considered a significant ecosystem as well as the ocean and the forest, playing a crucial role in adjusting the global environment.

Gansu Province is rich in wetlands, which are the main water sources of the inland rivers and the sanctuaries inhabited by large amounts of rare birds, including black storks, black-necked cranes and swans.

Nine wetland nature reserves, covering a total area of 860,000 hectares, have been established, making up 70.6 percent of the province's total area of wetland. However, some wetland resources were affected or even destroyed by excessive farming, herding and housing construction.

The newly adopted regulation to take effect on Feb. 2 next year will strictly prohibit arbitrary exploitation and demand the local government to restore the destroyed wetlands.

A regulation was formulated last month by Jiangxi province for the protection of the wetland in and around famous Poyang Lake, the country's largest freshwater lake. Meanwhile, in Heilongjiang province, the regulations on wetland protection were passed by the local legislature in June and came into effect on August 1 this year.

(China Daily December 5, 2003)