(Editor's note: Recently, the 2024 publicity campaign of the China Environmental Protection Century Tour, led by the General Office of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, was launched in Jinan, Shandong. The theme of this year's campaign is "Implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and Promoting the Full Implementation of the Yellow River Protection Law".
The reporter of "Daily Economic News" followed the publicity activity interview group and visited the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve, known as the "international airport for birds", the starting area for the conversion of new and old kinetic energy in Jinan, and Xingdong New Village, Changxingji Township, Dongming County, Heze City, Shandong Province, and other places, witnessing the good experience and good practices of the local government in promoting the construction of ecological civilization and promoting the full implementation of the Yellow River Protection Law. From now on, this newspaper will continue to publish relevant reports, so stay tuned. ）
Every reporter Zhang Huaishui and every editor Chen Xu
Patches of reeds swayed in the wind, flocks of birds flew in the reeds, and the birds spread their wings and flew into the sky between the rippling waters......
After years of careful management, the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve, located at the mouth of the Yellow River, has become a transit station, wintering ground and breeding ground for many rare birds, and has been praised as the "international airport for birds" by experts at home and abroad.
On June 23, the 2024 publicity activity of the China Environmental Protection Century Tour, led by the General Office of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, was launched in Jinan, Shandong. The theme of the campaign was "Implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and Promoting the Full Implementation of the Yellow River Protection Law".
On June 25, the reporter of "National Business Daily" followed the interview group to the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve in Dongying City, Shandong Province, to explore how this salt marsh wetland, which had been eroded by the invasive alien species Spartina alterniflora, changed from a "green desert" to a freshwater wetland with beautiful beaches and birds.
Photo by reporter Zhang Huaishui
Zhao Yajie, senior engineer and deputy director of the Ecological Monitoring Center of the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve in Shandong, said in an interview with the reporter of "Daily Economic News" that in the 90s of the last century, the Yellow River Delta established a protected area. In recent years, 74,000 acres of freshwater swamp wetlands have been added to the reserve, with a total area of more than 300,000 mu, providing a variety of habitats for birds to thrive. At the beginning of the area, there were only about 187 species of birds, but after years of restoration and conservation, the number of bird species has increased to 373, of which 38 species of waterbirds account for more than 1% of the global total.
The number of national first-class protected birds has remained stable at more than 10,000
Red-crowned cranes, Oriental white storks, black-billed gulls...... For most people, these first-class protected birds, which can only be seen in video footage, appear on the tidal flats not far away. On some high-voltage poles, reporters can even spot the nest of the Oriental White Stork.
According to local staff, because there are no tall trees in the Yellow River Delta, the Oriental White Stork often chooses to nest on high-voltage poles, which poses a threat to power safety, and the lack of nest materials also makes some of the nests built by the Oriental White Stork less solid. As a result, artificial nests were built to attract more white storks to settle here.
Zhao Yajie told the "Daily Economic News" reporter that according to the latest monitoring, the number of birds in the nature reserve has increased to 373, the number of Oriental white storks has exceeded 450 for two consecutive years, the number of black-billed gulls has stabilized at more than 10,000, and the number of red-crowned cranes wintering in 2022~2023 has reached 389. "Due to the continuous abundance of biodiversity, it is known as the 'hometown of China's oriental white stork' and 'the hometown of China's black-billed gull', and has also become an important wintering ground for red-crowned cranes around the world."
It is reported that the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve in Shandong was approved by the State Council in October 1992, with a total area of 1,530 square kilometers, divided into two parts: the southern area is located at the current estuary of the Yellow River, with an area of 1,045 square kilometers; The northern area is located at the mouth of the sea before the diversion of the Yellow River in 1976, covering an area of 485 square kilometers. The nature reserve is mainly for the protection of the new wetland ecosystem and rare and endangered birds in the Yellow River Estuary, and was included in the list of wetlands of international importance in 2013.
Talking about the management process of the reserve, Zhao Yajie said with emotion that since 2002, the local government has been committed to wetland restoration, starting with a simple dam to divert the Yellow River water, and gradually transforming from extensive restoration to refined wetland protection and restoration.
Zhao Yajie introduced that the local comprehensive use of three restoration models for wetland restoration and biodiversity conservation projects. Firstly, the comprehensive management of Spartina alterniflora provided a diverse habitat for birds to thrive.
Secondly, a scientific ecological water replenishment system of "diversion, transportation, storage and discharge" has been built, and the water diversion capacity has increased from less than 40 cubic meters per second to 131 cubic meters per second, and the ecological water replenishment has exceeded 175 million cubic meters in the past two years, maintaining a good ecological environment of the wetland.
"In addition, we have built a river-land-beach-sea connectivity system, connecting 115 kilometers of water systems, dredging 76 kilometers of tidal ditches, and restoring the hydrological connection between the Yellow River and the ocean." Zhao Yajie said.
The "green desert" with an area of more than 130,000 acres has been managed
Zhou Licheng, head of the planning and construction section of the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve, told the "Daily Economic News" reporter that the invasive alien species Spartina alterniflora has crowded out the living space of other organisms due to overbreeding.
Zhou Licheng pointed to a large area of freshly treated tidal flats in front of him and told reporters that Spartina alterniflora is a globally invasive species, and since about 2010, Spartina alterniflora has expanded significantly at a rate of about 20% per year, and finally expanded to a staggering 131,000 mu. According to statistics, 11 coastal provinces across the country have experienced the flood of alien species, but the Yellow River Delta is the largest.
According to the information searched on the Internet, Spartina alterniflora is a perennial grass native to the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico in North America, mainly used to protect against typhoons and beach protection. However, due to its extremely adaptable and reproductive capacity, Spartina alterniflora once spread along the coast of China, becoming one of the 100 most dangerous invasive species in the world.
"The biggest problem is crowding out other creatures." Zhou Licheng told reporters that the root depth of Spartina alterniflora reaches about 1 meter, and the density per square meter can reach 200~500 plants. As a result, the entire coast looks green, but in fact forms a "green desert".
The reporter of "Daily Economic News" learned from the scene that the wetland and biodiversity conservation and restoration project implemented by the Yellow River Delta Nature Reserve in 2022 is a comprehensive ecological protection and restoration project based on the management of Spartina alterniflora, with a total investment of 300 million yuan, 6,161 hectares of Spartina alterniflora, 1,000 hectares of salsa salsa, 50 hectares of seagrass beds, and 10 hectares of benthic organisms.
More than 99% of the vegetation in the treatment area is cleared
It is a global consensus that Spartina alterniflora has a high recurrence rate and is difficult to manage. In 2023, five departments, including the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the Ministry of Natural Resources, issued the "Special Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Spartina alterniflora (2022~2025)", requiring that by 2025, Spartina alterniflora will be effectively controlled, the spread trend will be curbed, the comprehensive prevention and control capacity will be comprehensively improved, the ecological hazards of coastal wetlands will be basically eliminated, and the governance will achieve a phased victory.
How to give the "green desert" a new look? The Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve has formed its own "Dongying model" in the management of Spartina alterniflora.
Zhou Licheng told reporters that the method of "mowing + flooding" is mainly adopted. First, cut the seeds before they reach maturity to prevent them from drifting apart. Secondly, demarcate an area, enclose it with a filling membrane bag, introduce seawater at high tide, the depth is more than 60 cm, and the continuous encirclement is more than 90 days, and through continuous encirclement, its roots are suffocated and died.
"The other is continuous ploughing, which crushes the root system through ploughing." Zhou Licheng said that in the actual work, the local comprehensive use of mowing, flooding, ploughing and other methods for governance.
"For us, it's a 'war of annihilation.'" Zhou Licheng told reporters that due to the particularly large operating area, it takes six or seven hours to go back and forth by boat, and the time is wasted on the road. So we brought dry food and ate and lived for 10 days. In addition, we have built 50 safety stations in the operation area to prevent bad weather such as storm surge during operation.
The reporter of "Daily Economic News" learned that the comprehensive management of Spartina alterniflora in the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve began in September 2022, and so far, a number of governance tasks have been completed. Through the implementation of the project, the spread and expansion of Spartina alterniflora in the reserve has been fully curbed, the benthic community and bird habitat environment have been effectively improved, and the food source and habitat for the protection of international migratory birds have been provided.
According to the latest monitoring and evaluation results, the management effect of Spartina alterniflora control area is good, the proportion of vegetation removal is more than 99%, the number of benthic animals is generally increasing, and the number of inhabiting birds has reached 31 species and more than 80,000 birds, and the diversity, stability and sustainability of the ecosystem in the Yellow River Delta have been greatly improved.
National Business Daily
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