China and the Netherlands have launched a cooperation program to protect ecosystem in the Yellow River Delta, the second longest river in China.

The program, titled "The Yellow River Delta Environmental Flow Study," is the second scientific cooperation program of its kind between China and the Netherlands since 2003.

Government officials from the two countries signed an agreement on the program on Monday, one day before the second International Yellow River Forum, which is slated for October 18-21 in Zhengzhou, capital city of central China's Henan Province.

Lian Yu, vice director of the Bureau of Protecting Water Resources in the Yellow River Valley, said the Yellow River Delta has the biggest, youngest and best wetlands in north China.

As one of the most important places for migrant birds in northeast Asia as well as the Asia-Pacific rim, the Delta has been put on both world and Chinese bio-diversity and wetland protection lists, said Lian.

However, a shortage of water has caused the frequent drying-up of the lower reaches of the Yellow River in recent years and posed a grave threat to the ecosystem at the estuary of the river, Lian said.

In the face of water deficiency and a contradiction in the supply and demand of water resources in the Yellow River valley, it was of great significance to conduct environmental studies so that Delta ecosystem security could be guaranteed, said Lian.

Statistics released by the Yellow River Conservancy Committee (YRCC) show that drying in the lower reaches of the river was reported in 21 of the 27 years from 1972-1998, resulting in river course shrinkages, a loss of non-human life and wetland shrinkage.

In 1999, the YRCC began to manage the water resources in the river valley by diverting water from other parts to feed the lower reaches of the Yellow River during non-rainy seasons, which has resulted in the environmental improvement along the river's lower reaches.

Bas Pedroli, head of the Dutch ecosystem expert team, said it was a difficult for experts from both countries to find out the exact quantity of environmental flow in the estuary of the river. An additional challenge was striking a balance between the security of the ecosystem on the Delta and economic interests potentially generated by the Yellow River.

Suo Lisheng, deputy minister of water resources, and Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, attended the signing ceremony.

China and the Netherlands signed a cooperation program called "satellite-based monitoring of water and river movement forecast in the Yellow River Valley" during the first International Yellow River Forum in 2003.

(Xinhua News Agency October 19, 2005)