Once again red-crowned cranes fly overhead and Manchurian tigers roam on the plain of Heilongjiang, Songhua and Wusuli Rivers in northeast China, thanks to efforts to reconvert farmlands back to forests, grasslands and wetlands.

A paradise for wildlife about five decades ago, the river plain in the Beidahuang (or Great Northern Wilderness) area, in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, were turned into a grain production base in the latter half of the 20th century when the country strove to feed its huge population through a land reclamation drive.

Some seven billion kg of grain was produced yearly in this area, but the price was ecological balance and a vast area of wetlands.

To restore the original environment and woo back wild animals to the plain, the Chinese government decided in 1999 to stop land reclamation in the Beidahuang area. Instead it would return some land unsuitable for farming to wetlands, forests and grasslands.

As a result, a total of 224 wildlife species including the worldwide endangered Manchurian tiger and red-crowned crane, now inhabit the plain -- 168 species more than three years ago, according to research by forest conservation specialists.

"Returning farmland to wilderness in Beidahuang is of far-reaching significance to improving the environment, conserving biological diversity and preserving wetlands on the Heilong-Songhua-Wusuli River Plain," said Luo Guozhen, a State Environmental Protection Administration official.

To this end, a provincial nature reserve was set up on the plain in 1994, which was upgraded to national status in April 2000, including a 198,100-hectare wetland reserve. In January 2002, the wetland reserve was added to the list of internationally important wetlands under the Ramsar Convention, to which China became a signatory in 1992.

In the Beidahuang reclamation area, more than 30,000 hectares of farmland has reportedly been returned to forests, grasslands and wetlands, with nature reserves in the region covering 11 percent of the total area.

Lu Weifeng, who is in charge of the reclamation area, said despite these conservation efforts, Beidahuang will remain an important grain production base as technological and biological measures have ensured an annual production capacity of 10 billion kg of grain.

Official data shows that China's wetlands cover 63 million hectares, where 1,540 plants grow, and 1,500 animals live. Many of the animals and plants are endangered species.

By July this year, China had established 289 wetland reserves, with a total area of 49.45 million hectares. Of the 289 wetland reserves, 21 are Ramsar wetlands, covering a combined area of 3.03 million hectares.

China plans to increase the number of Ramsar wetlands to 80 by 2010, according to State Forestry Administration officials.

(Xinhua News Agency September 5, 2002)