Retiree records rare birds in Heilongjiang

Since the establishment of the Qingfeng Bird Protection and Monitoring Station of Xinglong Forestry Bureau 23 years ago, 733,057 birds of 168 species have been monitored in the region, according to the bureau.

Moreover, the station has successfully banded rare birds such as the Mongolian lark and the chestnut-winged cuckoo, setting a record for the number of bird species tagged in the province.

Over the past 10 years, the group has gradually established a comprehensive and systematic institutional system that covers forest resource management, grassland and wetland management, protection of wild animals and plants, and management of nature reserves to bolster the development of an ecological civilization.

"Since the banning of commercial logging, the forest area in our group has increased to around 5.6 million hectares, with a forest coverage rate of 84.71 percent," said Yang Chongjun, deputy director of the group's resource management department. "By taking regular special actions to protect wild animals and plants, the ecological environment in the forest area continues to improve.

"We have rescued and released over 180 wild animals, including Oriental white storks, flamingos and red-crowned cranes," he added. "Also, the activity areas of the wild Siberian tigers have continuously expanded and are now managed by 14 forestry bureaus, up from nine."