History of Wetland Changes in Wild Duck Lake
Located in the northwest of Beijing, Wild Duck Lake is currently the largest wetland nature reserve in the capital.
"During the migration season, many birds stop here, among which geese and ducks have the largest variety and number, hence the name of Wild Duck Lake."
This artificial wetland with a short history has condensed the twists and turns of the human society in more than half a century, advancing towards nature, wandering, and shaking hands with peace.
Wang Hai, 83 years old this year, can be called a witness to the history of the changes in the Wild Duck Lake wetland.
Uncle Wang lives in Liu Haoying Village, which is one of the closest villages to Wild Duck Lake.
Uncle Wang said that there was no Wild Duck Lake here 70 years ago, and Liu Haoying Village was not at this location.
The story of Wild Duck Lake starts with the construction of Guanting Reservoir.
In October 1951, Guanting Reservoir, the first large-scale reservoir built after the founding of the People's Republic of China, broke ground. Dozens of villages were designated within the reservoir area, and tens of thousands of villagers became reservoir immigrants, including Liu Haoying Village. in.
According to historical data, the main purpose of building the Guanting Reservoir was to control the flooding of the Yongding River.
In 1954, the Guanting Reservoir was completed and put into use, ending the history of continuous flooding in the Yongding River. Since then, the reservoir has also played a huge role in irrigation, water supply, and power supply.
With the passage of time, the water consumption in the upper reaches of the Yongding River has increased year by year, and both the inflow and outflow water of the Guanting Reservoir have shown a decreasing trend, and large swamps and meadows have appeared around the reservoir.
The concept of wetlands has been widely recognized by all countries, starting from the signing of the International Convention on Wetlands in 1971.
This convention not only gives the concept of wetlands, but also clearly states that "wetlands are a resource of great economic, cultural, scientific and recreational value, and once lost, they are irreparable; lost".
Zhang Mingxiang, Professor, Associate Dean of Research, School of Nature Reserves, Beijing Forestry University: China joined the Convention on Wetlands in 1992. As one of the contracting parties, we are obliged to formulate our country's policy on wetland protection.
In 1997, Yanqing established Yeyahu County-level Wetland Nature Reserve, the first wetland nature reserve established in Beijing, with a total area of 6,873 hectares, equivalent to about 23 Summer Palaces.
Since then, Yanqing has implemented a series of basic protection measures, including building fences, boundary markers, publicity boards, moving out of the shantytowns fishing for fish, prohibiting grazing and fishing, stopping motor boats such as yachts, prohibiting sand dredging, and taking back the farms behind the sea in the buffer zone. According to some data, "by 2000, more than 13,000 meters of fences were built, more than 3,000 meters of protective trenches were dug, and more than 10,000 cattle and sheep were moved out."
In 2000, the "China Wetland Protection Action Plan" was promulgated, and in the same year, the Yeyahu Wetland was upgraded to a municipal wetland nature reserve.
In 2006, the Wild Duck Lake National Wetland Park was piloted in the Wild Duck Lake Experimental Zone.
Wetland protection has been in action
In 2013, the "Beijing Wetland Protection Regulations" was promulgated and implemented. Some people say that this not only makes Beijing's wetland protection legal for the first time, but also has the strictest wetland protection management system in Beijing's history.
Article 4 of the "Regulations" stipulates that the municipal and district people's governments and their relevant departments shall implement a target responsibility system for wetland protection, ensure that the total area of wetlands does not decrease, and take measures to improve the quality of wetlands and improve wetland functions.
In addition, the "Beijing Wetland Protection Regulations" also stipulates that wetland protection is an ecological public welfare undertaking.
Municipal and district people's governments shall strengthen their leadership over wetland protection work, incorporate wetland protection into national economic and social development plans and plans, ensure capital investment required for wetland protection construction projects and management, and include wetland protection funds at the same level financial budget.
This makes Beijing's wetland protection better financial guarantee.
Liu Xuemei, deputy director of the Natural Reserve Management Office of Yanqing District, Beijing: Our protection methods are constantly innovating and our technical level is constantly becoming scientific. In this process, the stability of our wetland ecosystem, including the richness of our species, is gradually increasing.
It is understood that the ecological restoration of the Yeya Lake wetland is divided into different areas according to the fluctuation of the water level of the Guanting Reservoir, and different countermeasures are taken.
In general, water diversion is used for irrigation in areas with high terrain and relatively little water, and the restoration plants are mainly shrubs and herbs; For vegetation such as trees, artificially assisted natural restoration is adopted, and water is naturally diverted through water diversion pipelines and wetland plants are appropriately replanted; in the areas with the lowest terrain, enclosure measures are used to restore the wetland ecosystem naturally.
The restoration of the Wild Duck Lake Wetland adopts the principle of natural restoration as the main, supplemented by artificial restoration, and strives to minimize the degree of intervention.
These practices are also clearly stipulated in the "Beijing Wetland Protection Regulations": the restoration or construction of wetlands should comply with the national and municipal standards and technical specifications for wetland protection, and use natural or ecological materials and techniques to maintain wetland ecological functions. .
When restoring or constructing wetlands, wetland plants shall be planted, and the breeding and habitat environment for wild animals shall be constructed according to the characteristics and laws of wild animal activities.
Since the implementation of the "Beijing Wetland Protection Regulations", a joint meeting system for wetland protection and a wetland protection expert consultation mechanism have been established. The list of municipal wetlands, the "Beijing Wetland Protection and Development Plan", and the "Beijing Wetland Protection and Restoration Work Plan" have been issued, and the construction, restoration and protection of wetlands in Beijing has entered a stage of comprehensive development.
Liu Junping, deputy chief of the scientific research and monitoring department of the Natural Reserve Management Office of Yanqing District, Beijing: We can control the water level of each water surface, and the water level of each water surface is different.
Every bird has its own ecological niche. It cannot be said that too much water is not enough, and too little water is not enough. There are various habitats, and biodiversity can be more abundant.
Through continuous restoration and management, the biodiversity of the Wild Duck Lake wetland has been significantly improved.
According to incomplete statistics, as of May 2022, there are 501 species of higher plants in the wetlands of Wild Duck Lake, including some rare species, such as wild soybeans, Beijing water buttercups and licorice, protected plants in Beijing, and The only aquatic insect-eating plant Uricaria in North China; and there are 368 species of birds, accounting for about 73% of the existing bird records in Beijing.
There is a law to protect the beauty of ecology
If you want to see swan geese and their babies this season, then 60 kilometers south from Mallard Lake, closer to the city, this wish may come true.
Liu Yingjie, deputy director of the Wetland and Wildlife Conservation and Management Center in Beijing's Haidian District, said that most of the geese will start to migrate further north in March to April, and a few stay in the Cuihu National Wetland Park, where they are protected around the clock. It is open 24 hours, but strictly restricts the time and area of the tour for tourists.
Liu Yingjie, deputy director of the Beijing Haidian District Wetland and Wildlife Conservation and Management Center: In 2004, as far as I know, there were only about forty geese.
In 2008, it reached about 60, but now the recent monitoring data in our park has reached 600 to 800, so this is a big change.
In Beijing, there are more and more places where people can experience wetlands.
Zhang Manyin and his team have participated in the planning, construction and restoration of many wetlands in Beijing.
Zhang Manyin introduced that Beijing has actually adopted a strategy for wetland protection or restoration in recent years, which is called wet if wet, dry if dry, and forest if suitable for forest. Therefore, Beijing is currently carrying out wetland restoration, which does not mean that wetlands must be restored on a large scale. , Wetland restoration is basically carried out under the premise that water resources are guaranteed, and wetlands have been distributed in history.
The expansion of the wetland area will greatly improve the quality of the city or the comfort of the city, because first of all, the wetland has the function of purifying water quality.
In addition, in terms of the comfortable environment provided by wetlands, for example, wetlands have the effect of cooling and humidifying, so generally it will be cooler on the edge of wetlands, especially when the wind blows, so it also provides our residents with a very good Good recreation and leisure space.
According to relevant data, as of 2021, the wetland area in Beijing according to the International Convention on Wetlands is 62,100 hectares.
During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, Beijing also plans to build more than 50 small and micro wetlands in combination with rural revitalization and beautiful rural construction, and continue to play the role of wetlands in purifying water quality and beautifying the environment.
On June 1, 2022, the "Wetland Protection Law" was officially implemented. This is the first time that my country has implemented legislative protection specifically for wetland ecosystems.
According to the information released by the State Forestry and Grassland Administration recently: "A total of 97 wetland-related systems have been established at the national and provincial levels, and a wetland protection policy system has been preliminarily formed, opening a new stage of comprehensive wetland protection." The wetland ecological function is more prominent. The wetland protection management system has been initially established, 64 internationally important wetlands and 29 nationally important wetlands have been designated, and more than 600 wetland nature reserves and more than 1,600 wetland parks have been established. Increase to more than 50%. The ecological status of important national wetlands is generally stable and good, and the ecological status of degraded wetlands has improved significantly."