The World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) and Chinese authorities on Monday launched a full survey of waterfowl in wetland areas in the country's east, mainly along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

The launch marked International Wetland Day on Feb. 2.

The survey will cover the valleys along the middle and lower Yangtze, the Yangtze estuary and beach lands, and will involve Shanghai City and the provinces of Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Anhui and Jiangsu.

It took one year to prepare the program, which was co-sponsored by the WWF and the State Forestry Administration, said Liang Haitang, manager of the WWF's Yangtze program in China.

Experts said the surveyed areas had multi-ecosystems inhabited by many big, rare waterfowl species, including cranes, white storks and swans.

For years there have been no full and thorough investigations into the number of bird species and their flocks living or staying through the winter. This affected effective protection of the birds and the management of their habitat.

The screening is expected to provide detailed information to help experts know more about waterfowl and initial results of the massive effort to return farmlands to wetlands or lakes. It will also provide field data for analyzing the impact of the Three Gorges hydro-power project.

Liang said more than a dozen survey teams had entered work sites since Jan. 26 to prepare for the full launch on Monday.

The program had attracted volunteers from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Xiamen and Hong Kong.

(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2004)