Tibet ranks second in wetland preservation

Forestry officials from the Tibet autonomous region said on Wednesday that there are more than 38,000 wetlands within its boundaries covering an area of 6.52 million hectares, making it the second-largest swath of wetlands in China.

The wetlands survey began in January 2010 as part of the country's campaign to collect information on and strengthen protection of wetlands, said Buchung, deputy director of the Forestry Department of the Tibet autonomous region.

The Sanjiang Plain Nature Reserve in Heilongjiang province contains the nation's largest area of wetlands at more than 10 million hectares.