Flood of new wetlands on the drawing board

As many as 18 wetland parks will be created in Beijing this year, the Beijing municipal bureau of landscape and forestry has announced.

Yang Zhihua, who heads the bureau's protection department, shared the news during the 14th annual World Wetlands Day on Tuesday.

Yang said each of Beijing's 18 districts and counties will bring to life a new wetland park in 2010 - including those in city centers, such as Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chongwen and Xuanwu.