Birds and photographers flock to Ningxia's new wetlands

YINCHUAN－Every day, when Gu Jincheng takes a stroll with his grandson in the Yellow River Wetland Park in Hetan village in Yinchuan, the capital of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, he's gratified by its drastic change in recent years from smelly quagmire to outdoor oxygen bar.

It has also become a shelter for migratory birds, something few could have imagined less than a decade ago, when the park was no more than a stretch of salty land on the river flat, with hardly any grass and raw sewage pouring out of nearby drains.

"The water stank, and was full of dirty bubbles. Even animals wouldn't drink from it. Crops irrigated with its water withered after," Gu recalled, adding that the river made his hometown of Hetan smell unpleasantly.

Cao Jing, head of Yinchuan's Water Ecology and Environment Branch at the city's Ecology and Environment Bureau said that in 2018, the city launched a wetland purification project to prevent sewage and other pollutants from entering the Yellow River, and transformed the environment along its banks by creating wetlands and modernizing the drainage system.

"Yinchuan has created eight protected wetlands, including five artificial ones, that cover 733 hectares," Cao said.

"The 15 wastewater disposal facilities in Yinchuan have also been upgraded, and their drainage systems have been renovated," she added.

Thanks to the municipal government's eco-friendly efforts, the quagmire near Hetan village has become an environmental filter capable of absorbing and controlling pollution from the city, and functions as a park for local residents and visitors.

Along with many other Yellow River wetlands in Ningxia, it has now become a magnet for photographers to take pictures of migratory birds.

"With the growing area of wetlands and the improving environment, suitable habitats for migratory birds are on the rise," said Li Zhijun, secretary-general of Ningxia's Bird Observation Association.

"Many migratory birds have changed course to visit Ningxia, which has increased the number of species in the region."

Yinchuan's wetlands have become a true paradise for wild birds, with some 240 different species nesting there during the spring and fall, a sharp increase from the 169 recorded before the project.

Xinhua