The bird "watcher" on the Yellow Beach: a family of three generations relays to protect the Damei Wetland

　　Chinanews.com, Yancheng, December 3rd, title: The bird "watcher" on the Yellow Beach: a family of three generations relayed to guard the Damei Wetland

　　Author Gu Hua Gu Mingshai

　　In winter, the yellow beach in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, the golden reeds and fiery red wormwood constitute a beautiful wetland picture.

60-year-old Du Jinjin stands on the tidal flat with a telescope, observes various birds that come to spend the winter, and writes down relevant information in his notebook from time to time.

　　"These birds come back and forth every year, guarding them for a lifetime, and miss them like relatives." Du Jinjin said.

　　Du Jinjin was originally the chief of the social affairs management section of the management office of Yancheng Wetland Rare Birds National Nature Reserve in Jiangsu. He started working in the reserve in 1986 until he retired in September this year.

Taking root in wetlands for more than 30 years, Du Jinjin has successively engaged in scientific research, management and conservation, community management, publicity and education, etc. Although he has changed many departments, he has not given up on the investigation and research of birds, and has formed a puzzle with the birds on the Yellow Beach fate.

　　"The cause of ecological protection in Yancheng also embodies the sweat of my father." Du Jinjin introduced that in 1985, his father responded to the Yancheng talent introduction plan and returned to his hometown to work at the Yancheng Environmental Monitoring Station. engineer.

　　It is understood that Du Jinjin's father has successively been responsible for the investigation of industrial pollution sources in Yancheng City, the investigation of industrial pollution sources in townships, the investigation of natural radioactive levels, the declaration of sewage discharge, and the environmental function zoning of coastal waters. business, and helped Yancheng Institute of Technology to establish an undergraduate major in the Department of Environmental Engineering.

　　After graduating, Du Jinjin engaged in geological exploration and traveled in the field all year round.

"After my father became an environmentalist, influenced by him, I also wanted to do something related to ecological protection." Du Jinjin said that in 1986, he followed his father's footsteps to the Huanghai Beach and came to the home of birds.

Du Jinjin works on the tidal flat.

Photo provided by the interviewee.

　　Du Jinjin recalled that the conditions in the reserve were very difficult at that time, with no water and electricity, barren grass and beaches, and no decent roads.

It was under such harsh conditions that the young man made up his mind to stay and stick to the front line of ecological protection with his colleagues, leaving early and returning late every day to record information about various birds on the tidal flats.

　　"At that time, I was riding a bicycle and watching the birds while walking on the potholed path. The scope of the reserve is very large, and it takes a week to look around from south to north." Du Jinjin said that he didn't know the specific birds at the beginning. Through years of observation and comparison, I gradually understand the state and nature of birds, and later I can quickly identify the information of various birds.

　　On the vast yellow beach, red-crowned cranes dance lightly, and Du Jinjin tracks them every day.

He also keeps discovering new birds, such as the Saunders. When he saw this beautiful bird "wearing a black top hat and a white dress" for the first time, he excitedly recorded it in his notebook.

How rare migratory birds such as saunders inhabit and reproduce on the Yellow Beach, and the number of wintering here every year, these are the scope of Du Jinjin's research.

　　For Du Jinjin, knowing birds and birds is not worth showing off. The thing that gave him the most sense of accomplishment was participating in the whole process of Yancheng Yellow Sea Wetland's declaration of world natural heritage.

In 2016, Yancheng initiated the application for the Yellow Sea Wetland. Since Du Jinjin was very familiar with the Yellow Sea Wetland and migratory birds, he was transferred to the local application office.

　　"It is very difficult to apply for the world heritage. It is not easy for the Yellow Sea Wetland to be recognized by the world. We prepare all kinds of application materials every day, and the materials in the office are piled up higher than people." Du Jinjin said. During the application process, People often don't go home for many days in a row, eating and living at the seaside and in offices.

Everything in the world is difficult. At the 43rd World Heritage Conference in 2019, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee reviewed and approved the inclusion of China's Yellow (Bo) Sea Migratory Bird Habitat (Phase 1) in the "World Heritage List", filling the gap. There is no type of coastal wetland heritage in my country, and the Yancheng Yellow Sea Wetland has become the second intertidal wetland heritage in the world.

Because of his outstanding contribution, Du Jinjin was awarded the title of advanced individual in the work of applying for world heritage by the Yancheng Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government.

　　There is no end to the green business, and bird protection has a successor.

After Du Jinjin's daughter-in-law Zhang Yanan obtained a master's degree from the Nanjing Soil Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, she also applied for a position in the reserve and engaged in wetland scientific research like Du Jinjin.

"At home, we often communicate about work, and there are endless topics to talk about." Zhang Yanan said that the research conditions on tidal flats and birds have undergone earth-shaking changes, but many aspects cannot be separated from the work experience of the older generation.

　　The family found that Du Jinjin has been busier than before after retirement. Now he is not only focusing on the research of ecological protection, but also pays more attention to the community development within the wetland area.

"How to enable the residents within the protected area to live a good life and let the good ecology play its value?" This is the question that Du Jinjin has been thinking about.

After retiring, he immediately joined the Yancheng Yellow Sea Wetland Ecological Agriculture Industry Promotion Association, and worked hard to promote the production of high-quality agricultural products in a good ecological environment, so as to transform the ecological wealth of the Yellow Sea into economic wealth.

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