More than 90 percent of the mangrove wetland in the coastal city of Xiamen, east China's Fujian Province, has vanished in the past five decades due to various construction projects, said a mangrove expert.

 

Wang Wenqin, vice chairman of the China ecology association, said Xiamen used to claim 320 hectares of mangrove in the 1950s, and the number plunged to the present 13 hectares.

 

He explained that land reclamation from the sea and construction of roads and piers are the main reason.

 

As a complete ecological system, mangrove wetland is composed of forest, low beaches and shallow pools, all of which are the guarantee to keep the balance of wetland system, the so-called "kidney of the earth".

 

Statistics show that in the past 50 years, the country's mangrove land has decreased by 70 percent, with the present coverage of 22,639 hectares.

 

To better protect mangrove, Wang suggested the government pay more attention, take effective measures and train more personnel.

 

(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2007)