The Chinese government has established a state-level wetlands park in Yinchuan, capital of northwestern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, in a move to save its wetlands areas.

 

The Yinchuan Wetlands Park, the country's third state-level wetlands park, consists of two parts: the Yuehai and Mingcui Lake wetlands areas. The Yuehai wetlands, covering over 2,000 hectares, consists of lakes, marshes and meadows, and is home to 114 plant types and 107 bird species. The Mingcui Lake wetlands covers more than 660 hectares and is a healthy reed environment.

 

The park is a major stopover for migratory birds in western China.

 

The other two state-level wetlands parks, both in east China, are in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, and Qinhu Lake, Jiangsu Province.

 

Located on the banks of Yellow River, the second longest waterway in China, Yinchuan boasts 47,000 hectares of wetlands, accounting for one-fifth of the total wetlands in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

 

Zhao Xuemin, deputy head of the State Forestry Administration, said that the establishment of the park set a good example for other provinces, autonomous regions and cities in the Yellow River valley.

 

Wetlands totaling 2.8 million hectares are scattered in the Yellow River valley.

 

The 5,464-kilometer Yellow River springs from the northwestern Qinghai Province and flows eastward through Gansu Province, Ningxia and other regions before emptying into the Bohai Sea in Shandong Province.

 

China has 66 million hectares of wetlands, the most in Asia and fourth-largest in the world.

 

The country also has 473 wetlands nature reserves and has put 45 percent of its total natural wetlands under effective protection.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 26, 2006)