Protecting Wetlands 1

Dr. Su Liying worked at Zhalong Nature Reserve in Heilongjiang Province for many years. She is now very worried about the condition of the wetland there. The wetland there originates from Wuyuer River, which flows past the west side of the Little Xing'an Mountains. After the river flows into the eastern part of Qiqihar, it gradually disappears, forming a 2,100-square-kilometer wetland, which is China’s largest wetland. Today, just maintaining the normal state of the wetland’s core area needs 300 million cubic meters of water annually. But last year due to artificial factors, less than 100 million cubic meters of water was supplied to the wetland. Since the 1950s, over 30 reservoirs have been built in the upper reaches of Wuyuer River. They stop water from flowing into the wetland. Later, two trunk ditches were built in the south and north of the wetland. They split the wetland. A highway passes across the north of the wetland. It blocks the water from the upper reaches like a dam. Land reclamation and ditching have further exacerbated the fragmentation of the wetland.

There are 15 species of crane in the world, of which 9 live in China, and 6 live in Zhalong Nature Reserve, the world's largest wild red-crowned crane breeding area. Now, people can see many artificially bred red-crowned cranes in the nature reserve, but less and less wild cranes can be seen.

In order to survive, humans and cranes are struggling for the limited resources of the wetland. Local people mainly live on fishing, farming and reeds. But now, fish are becoming less and less, reeds are becoming shorter and shorter. Cranes have nothing to eat and no places to hide there. In the dry season, the Zhalong wetland often catches fires. Sometimes even the crane eggs are burned.