Yancheng Coastal Wetlands

The Yancheng Coastal Wetlands stretch for nearly 600 km along the coast of central and northern Jiangsu province and span five counties. The Jiangsu coast is the most extensive example of inter-tidal mudflat and saltmarsh coast remaining in China. The wetlands consist primarily of extensive inter-tidal mudflats, tidal creeks and river channels, saltmarshes, reed beds and marshy grasslands. Sea dykes have been built over the years and much of the natural habitat has been converted to other uses, although it retains its wetland character. Inside the sea dykes, large areas of salt pans, fish and shrimp ponds, reed farms, rice fields and irrigation and drainage canals remain important biodiversity conservation areas. The Yancheng coastal marshes were designated as a Biosphere Reserve under the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme in November 1992 and as a Northeast Asian Crane Reserve Network Site in March 1997. The Biosphere Reserve has two core areas, Yancheng NNR (641 km²) and Dafeng NNR (772.3 km²). Dafeng NNR is the focal site for this demonstration, while wider landscape issues will be addressed at the nature reserve and surrounding area.

Wildlife

The significance of the project area's biodiversity centers on its overwhelming importancefor globally rare and threatened waterbirds. This includes nearly 100% of the Chinese wintering population of Red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis) and 70% of the world population; significant wintering populations of 11 other globally threatened species. The coastline also provides a breeding habitat for about 20% of the world's population of Larus saundersi, a gull species that requires newly accreted saltmarshes in which to nest. The area is one of the few remaining strongholds of the Chinese Water Deer Hydropotes inermis and Dafeng NNR is a potential site for re-introduction of Pere David's Deer Elaphurus davidianus a species that is extinct in the wild but bred in near-natural conditions at the reserve.

ocioeconomics

From a socio-economic perspective, the conservation management problems, including theintegration of economic with conservation priorities, and threats found at the coastal marshes of Jiangsu Province are typical of the highly populated eastern coast of China and the Gulf of Bohai in the north-east. Additionally, these estuarine and inter-tidal environments are exceptionally dynamic ecosystems that require innovative and well planned strategies to ensure the sustainability of conservation efforts. The coastline is accreting rapidly (nearly 10 km² of new land is formed each year in Yancheng) and the ecological characteristics of protected areas change as their position retreats from the coast. Jiangsu is one of the richest provinces in China, with an average per capita income in the Yancheng area of US$360 per year.

Threats

The threats to wetlands and biodiversity in the focal site are related to the impacts ofunsustainable resource use resulting from management conflicts, including the conversion of the landward saltmarshes for agriculture and aquaculture. At a broader landscape scale, threats include:
* Unsustainable and illegal exploitation of wetland resources throughout the area; and
* Illegal hunting of wildlife resources (e.g., birds and their eggs).The barriers to effective biodiversity conservation are again similar to those at Sanjiang Plains and Ruoergai Marshes.

Action

In recognition of these problems the Provincial Government of Jiangsu has initiated several baseline measures to address these threats:
* Development of a Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) and new policy relating to economic use of the coastal zone (not biodiversity needs).
* Intensification of wetland management in the core area of Yancheng NNR to provide greater economic gain for the reserve (e.g., a further 50 km² is earmarked for development).
* Development of eco-tourism infrastructure at Yancheng NNR and Dafeng NNR.
* Alternative livelihood schemes will be developed around poultry and ostrich farming ventures in Yancheng NNR. These will be targeted to local communities responsible for over-exploitation of the inter-tidal mudflats within the Yancheng Biosphere Reserve's buffer zone.
* Development of coastal forestry plantations at Dafeng NNR.

Despite these efforts, current baseline efforts to conserve wetlands and biodiversity in Yancheng Coastal Marshes are insufficient to conserve globally important biodiversity, in part because of the current focus on economic, rather than conservation priorities.

ee also

*Geography of China

References

* http://www.wetland-gef-cpr98.org/wetland_english/pro_sites_02/yancheng_introdution.htm
* http://www.wwt.org.uk/text/516/yangcheng_dafeng_national_nature_reserves.html
* http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_aboutchina/2003-09/24/content_21419.htm