More than 1,000 swans and hundreds of other rare birds are returning to a nature reserve in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, thanks to the improved environment in the area.
The Huihe wetland, occupying 4,218 sq km, the largest wetland in Inner Mongolia, used to be known as a refuge for a great variety of migratory birds and other species.
Over the past years, however, the area has witnessed a sharp decline in the number of birds due to habitat destruction resulting from increasing human activities and droughts. Recent years have seen the number drop below 100 per year.
To reverse the trend, the wetland was converted to a national nature reserve, and human activities such as hunting and bird egg collection were strictly prohibited in the area.
Meanwhile, the local government launched an awareness campaign to educate local people about the benefits of protecting the flora and fauna in their home.
A local conservation official said that they intend to relocate herdsmen living inside the reserve provided that there is adequate funding.
The conservation measures have paid off, and, according to a local herdsman, there has not been such a large concentration of swans and other birds in the reserve in the ten years he has lived there.
There were also positive developments from another nature reserve in Inner Mongolia. Through intensified conservation efforts, the environment in the Tumuji Nature Reserve has been substantially restored, and some species of migratory birds have even made it their permanent home.
Officials from the reserve confirm that the bustard, which formally resided seasonally in the reserve, took up permanent residence in 2002 when the reserve was placed under state protection.
However, Inner Mongolia still faces tough environmental challenges. Officials from the Ejin Banner water authority said last week that a lake in the area is on the verge of extinction due to sharply reduced water flow from the Heihe River.
Since the 1960s, the river flow has been in constant decline as a result of deforestation, over-farming and over-irrigation along the middle and upper reaches.
The officials warned that the lake could dry up this summer if there is not enough water supply from the Heihe River.
(Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2003)
