Hainan mangroves experience: Wetland is also a poetic place with clear water and birds flying

　　China News Agency, Haikou, February 2. Title: Hainan Mangroves: Wetlands are also poetic places with clear water and birds flying lightly

　　Author Zhang Qianyi Ling Nan

　　The continuous mangrove forest, as the tide recedes, reveals a large beach again, and the fiddler crabs and mudskippers become active, attracting flocks of birds to come to look for food... The sky is blue and the sea is blue, and the scenery is picturesque. On the occasion of "World Wetland Day", Hainan Dongzhai Port National Nature Reserve presents a different kind of beauty.

　　Hainan Dongzhaigang National Nature Reserve is currently the nature reserve with the largest contiguous mangrove area, the most tree species, the best stand quality and the richest biodiversity in China.

Here you can see rich species of mangroves such as kandel and tung tree, and the 36 species of mangroves in the reserve have built a stable ecosystem.

　　"There are more and more 'family members' of mangroves in Dongzhai Port," said Huang Shaoming, director of Hainan Dongzhai Port National Nature Reserve Administration. More than 10 species of mangrove plants, such as soil, ten male siliques, etc.

　　In the Xinying Mangrove Forest National Wetland Park in Danzhou, the dense mangrove wetland stretches like a "green carpet" along the coastline, resisting the impact of waves and typhoons, and providing habitats for water birds, fiddler crabs and other creatures.

This beautiful view was not what it was a few years ago.

　　Since the 1980s and 1990s, there has been an upsurge in aquaculture in the coastal areas of Hainan. Large-scale aquaculture and the disorderly discharge of sewage have led to the degradation of mangroves and other vegetation and the destruction of wetland ecosystems.

　　As one of the regions with the most diverse and rich wetland types in China, in recent years, Hainan has stepped up wetland ecological restoration efforts and introduced relevant laws and regulations to promote wetland protection. The total wetland area in the province has reached 1,817,700 mu.

According to statistics from the Forestry Bureau of Hainan Province, during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, a total of 34,000 mu of ponds were restored in Hainan Province, of which 13,000 mu of mangroves were newly built.

Hainan has also established a dynamic database and monitoring system for mangrove resources in the province, continuously researching and improving the sustainable use of wetland resources, so as to carry out the protection of mangrove biodiversity more scientifically.

　　Thanks to the improvement of ecological functions, the biodiversity of wetlands in Hainan continues to increase. Every autumn and winter, many wetland parks become habitats and wintering grounds for endangered and rare birds such as spoon-billed sandpipers and black-faced spoonbills.

　　According to the 2023 Hainan Overwintering Waterfowl Survey Results jointly released by Hainan Bird Watching Society and Haikou Wetland Research Institute on the 2nd, 71 species of waterbirds were recorded this year. More than 10 species of wild birds have been protected, and more than 30,000 migratory birds have survived the winter.

　　Hainan Changjiang Haiwei National Wetland Park (pilot) has more than tripled the number of bird species in recent years, and it is currently the only known cotton mallard habitat in Hainan.

The park also improves water quality and wetland ecological environment by introducing running water from the reservoir to rehydrate the wetland and cleaning up invasive species.

　　Haikou, the capital city of Hainan Province, is one of the first batch of "International Wetland Cities".

In recent years, Haikou has vigorously restored the wetland ecological environment, and adopted the "Wetland Park +" model to use wetland resources to carry out nature education activities such as mangrove bird watching, nature reading, and farming experience.

　　Urban wetlands continue to release ecological dividends.

Qian Jun, director of Haikou Forestry Bureau, said that Haikou wetland not only has wetland rice, wetland vegetables and other wetland specialty agricultural product brands, but also effectively uses wetland resources in many places to develop industrial economy in combination with rural revitalization work, and launches "wetland +" products such as tourist routes, bringing to considerable income.

　　As an important blue carbon ecosystem, mangroves play an important role in carbon sequestration and storage.

"According to research data, the total amount of carbon sequestration in mangrove wetlands in Dongzhai Port is 395,000 tons, and the amount of carbon sequestration per unit area is 250.6 tons per hectare." Huang Shaoming told reporters that the reserve is currently carrying out a "blue carbon pilot project" with scientific research institutes. "Research, analyze the results of local carbon pool surveys, promote blue carbon pilot work, and promote the realization of carbon neutrality.

　　How to make the wetland truly a city's "golden business card"?

Zhan Changzhi, Dean of the Sino-German Institute of Applied Technology at Haikou University of Economics, suggested formulating rural revitalization plans and wetland protection guidelines, establishing wetland protection, scientific research and training standards, and rationally developing research and academic industries within the scope of wetlands.

Yuan Xingzhong, a professor at Chongqing University, believes that it is necessary to strengthen the sustainable use of wetland resources, so that the construction of urban living environment and wetland protection can organically integrate and co-exist, and provide more high-quality ecological products for the public.

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