China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) and its China Conservation Area (CCAfa) volunteers' investigation into the death of Oriental storks poisoning in the Bohai Rim area has received high attention from all walks of life and extensive media coverage. The poisoning of the Oriental storks occurred in a private fishpond. After investigating the incident, CBCGDF found that because of insufficient food supplies in the nature reserve, the Oriental storks had to fly to the private fishpond to grab food.

A few days ago, Dr. Zhou Jinfeng, the Secretary-General of CBCGDF said in an interview with Tianjin Radio about the above details: The wetlands are not suitable for foraging, causing the problem of waders such as Oriental storks, may continue in the future, We believe that first of all, a specific appropriate area should be established in the protected areas, and this area should have two characteristics: first, the depth of water is appropriate; second, there should be sufficient fish for waders to forage.

Dr. Zhou pointed out that the construction of the protected area is quite scientific, and it is convenient for humans to operate, so the function of the protected area should be brought into full play. Of course, the construction of protected areas should not be viewed from the perspective of human aesthetics but should be a safe and comfortable area with sufficient food from the perspective of species protection.

"In addition to transforming the interior of the protected area, you can also find suitable areas to restore suitable wetlands in a larger area, such as in the Bohai Rim region, so as long as it is properly rectified, it can make it play a good ecological function. " Dr. Zhou especially emphasized, “Although this is more difficult than constructing in the protected area, it is an important part of the entire ecological civilization. At the same time, it is also recommended the restoration of natural coastlines, to open up some of the wetlands where the waders traditionally feed, so that the waders have plenty of places to rest and hunt."

Regarding the current survival predicament of the Oriental storks, Dr. Zhou said that the foraging ground of waders has gradually expanded to the surrounding fishponds, mainly for two reasons. The first is that there is not enough food in the reserve and there is not enough habitat; The second is the increasing number of endangered birds flying to Tianjin for food.

As for the problem of waders flying to the surrounding fishponds to forage, that is, to forage in protected areas outside the reserve, Dr. Zhou also proposed the following suggestions:

First, it is recommended to support the community conservation. By far, CBCGDF has established a number of China Conservation Area (CCAfa) sites in Tianjin, including China Conservation Area for relict gull, China Conservation Area for Libellula Angelina, China Conservation Area for Oriental storks. Community plays a vital role and hopes that relevant Tianjin authorities will continue to increase their efforts to support community conservation and mass protection.

Second, the fishponds owners must raise the awareness of ecological civilization when operating fishponds production. During the operation of some traditional fishponds, the pesticides used may be fatal to migratory birds. If this is the case, the owners should actively stop using toxic pesticides before the state bans them. Even if the national law does not explicitly prohibit it, if the objective actually causes poisoning to endangered species, this dangerous behavior should be changed immediately. The fishponds owners should cooperate actively.

Speaking about the CBCGDF's developments in strengthening protection of wetlands and Oriental storks, Dr. Zhou said that he hopes to conduct research and train fishponds owners, including the type and time of pesticide use, and how to deal with them scientifically. To raise awareness of fishponds owners and get them to take action. This time the relevant authorities dealt with the poisoned dead fish very quickly, avoiding the harm to a larger number of endangered migratory birds. This has played an important role in preventing things from getting worse. The fishponds owners are also actively involved. In addition, CBCGDF will also research and promote and implement ecological compensation. Ecological compensation is a very important part of species conservation and a work that should be actively tried.

"The migrant birds in Tianjin flew to a large number of fishponds to find food. In this season, these fishponds are just when the water in the ponds is drained and cleaned up. Follow-up do the above work, such as to carry out research on these fishponds. When clearing ponds, if can leave a little water, fish, or use pesticide later, and choose more environmentally friendly pesticides, and give certain compensation and rewards to fishponds owners who take active actions, etc. This will leave a huge living space for migratory birds, and then it will be a blessing for migratory birds in Tianjin and migratory birds in the world. CBCGDF will actively explore to improve this work, and it is hoped that all sectors will support it. " Dr. Zhou said.

(Photo credit: CBCGDF volunteers)

Original Chinese article:

http://www.cbcgdf.org/NewsShow/4854/10704.html

By / Wang Yanqing Modified / Maggie