As a coastal province rich in wetland resources, Fujian is taking initiatives to draft a local law to better protect its wetlands.

Legislation on wetlands protection has been listed on this year's research plan of the provincial legislature, the people's congress.

"The value of wetlands in promoting the harmonious relationship between human beings and nature has not been widely recognized, so legislation is very significant," Chen Ning, deputy director with Fujian Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau, was quoted by Fujian Daily as saying.

According to Chen, with the largest area of wetlands in Asia of 65.94 million hectares, it is a pity that China so far has not established a special national law to protect its wetland resources.

However, the country signed an international agreement in 1992 on wetlands protection the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, Especially as Waterfowl Habitat.

In fact, a number of other provinces with rich wetland resources in the country, such as Heilongjiang, Jiangxi and Hubei, have successively set up their own local laws on wetlands protection since 2003.

Fujian, with more coastal wetland resources, also needs a local law to protect them, said Yu Xi, a senior engineer with Fujian Wildlife and Wetland Resources Monitor Centre.

Statistics from Fujian Provincial Forestry Bureau indicate that the province's wetlands have reached more than 1.8 million hectares, including 800,000 hectares of natural wetlands. It accounts for about 6.6 per cent of the province's total area of wetlands.

Yu told that the protection for wetlands involves several different administrative departments, so the legislation will help define the area clearly and co-ordinate the functions of the departments in wetlands protection.

"The law should emphasize the need for balance between the wetlands protection and economic development," Yu said.

To cure the lack of farmland resources, coastal land reclamation has become the main solution over the past few decades in Fujian. The province has finished reclamation projects of a total area of 86,800 hectares since 1949, most of which were built on coastal wetlands.

The high levels of reclamation has greatly reduced the area of wetlands and damaged the ecological environment of them, Yu said.

Furthermore, industrial pollution and residential waste water are threatening the wetlands, he added.

(China Daily March 17, 2006)