The Investigation by CBCGDF Research Team: The Caofeidian Wetland Reserve, Which Has Been "Emptied", Can No Longer Be "Willful" Like This
2020/3/22 15:22:00 本站

We started paying attention to the Caofeidian wetland and provincial bird protection area when tracking the whereabouts of migratory birds.

 

In the winter of 2019, the Oriental Storks, who came to the Bohai Bay to stop for food, as usual, had obvious behavior abnormality: when they sawfish in the fish pond of the Community Conservation Area for Water Bird, regardless of the wire mesh shelter, they just rushed down to catch fish to eat. Moreover, in the area of Caofeidian, Hebei Province, there are many cases of fishermen blown away birds. This phenomenon has attracted great attention to China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF).

 

As Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning and other areas around the Bohai Bay have the largest and continuous distribution of muddy beach coast in the world, where there is rich biodiversity, it is also known as the key bird habitat on East Asia - Australia line, one of the eight migratory routes in the world. Many of the world’s most rare and endangered wild migratory birds come and go on this route every winter and spring, such as Red-Crowned Crane, Nordmann’s Greenshank (Tringa guttifer), Great Knot (Calidris tenuirostris), Far Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis), Oriental Stork, etc. Moreover, migratory birds have a relatively fixed rule on the route of migration, which is usually not easily changed.

 

Why do oriental storks suffer from obvious starvation? In the winter of 2019, with the support of volunteers from Tianjin and Hebei, CBCGDF’s Research Office went to Tianjin, Hebei and other places around the Bohai Bay for investigation. After nearly two weeks of investigation, CBCGDF found that the water levels of the Qilihai wetland and Beidagang wetland in Tianjin were too high for the oriental stork of wading birds to forage. In addition, many fish ponds have been rented out in Caofeidian wetland and birds nature reserve in Hebei Province, which is also located in the important wet zone around Bohai Bay, even in the core area.

 

“It’s reasonable to say that the purpose of establishing a national reserve is to protect these migratory birds and their habitats. These birds who come from a long way across the mountains and rivers should get food supplements in these reserves. After resting, they will move again, but now they are being driven around in the reserve,” the volunteers said. At that time, the volunteers watched the hungry Oriental storks scramble with the fishpond contractor, feeling anxious and distressed.

 

“The Wudou and Liudou wetlands where the core area is located have always been the concentrated areas for Oriental Storks to stop for food, but they have all been rented as fishponds,” the volunteers said. Volunteers remember clearly that on November 3rd, 2019, the first batch of Oriental Storks moved south came to the vicinity of the Wudou shrimp pond. This pond is very large, 440 mu in size. Last year, this pond mainly raised shrimp. There was a large group of thousands of oriental storks came and waited to grab some fish when the owner of the fishpond is not paying attention. The owner of the shrimp pond has paid the contract fee for one year. In order to reduce the loss, he can only scare away the birds by blasting. It wasn’t until half a month later than all the Oriental Storks flew away.

 

CBCGDF’s researchers have twice entered Caofeidian wetland and bird reserve, they are impressed by the loose management and protection of the reserve. In the reserve, no matter the surrounding construction site, resort or even the core area, high barbed wire can be seen. There are dense reeds growing around these barbed wire fences, so outsiders cannot see the specific situation in the core area at all. However, as long as you walk in, you can see clearly that behind the reeds are the rented fishponds and paddy fields. The rent of these fishponds ranges from 300 RMB to 800 RMB per mu. When the Oriental Stork and other migratory birds come, the fishpond owner in this area is just about to finish fishing at the end of the year. Therefore, it is no wonder that the Oriental Stork and other migratory birds will starve.

 

However, for migratory birds, due to the overlapping of human production areas and ecological functional areas protected by migratory birds, they not only have no food supplement and safe habitat but also face the overwhelming poisoning injury. According to the statistics of CBCGDF, three of the six Oriental Stork poisoning cases in Tianjin and Hebei Province last winter occurred in Caofeidian, Hebei Province.

 

It is these fishponds and paddy fields that have been rented out for many years that almost “hollowed out” the Caofeidian wetland and birds nature reserve with a total area of 10081.4 hectares and almost completely lost its ecological protection function. According to the visual inspection of CBCGDF’s volunteers, the ecological area of the original wetland that can be preserved in the reserve is less than one-tenth. Similarly, the Nandagang wetland (Provincial Nature Reserve), which is located in Cangzhou, Hebei Province which covers an area of 100,000 mu, is also the same as the Caofeidian wetland reserve. As a result, the four most important reserves suitable for large-scale wading birds, swimming birds and small-scale wading birds in the coastal and nearby areas of North China have all indirectly lost their original ecological value and protection function.

 

At the end of 2019, CBCGDF also reported to the head of relevant departments of Hebei Province about the illegal leasing of large areas of fishponds in Caofeidian wetland and bird reserve but never received a reply.

 

It is now March; the oriental stork and other migratory birds will pass through the Caofeidian wetland reserve again and return to the north after a short rest. However, after the Spring Festival, there was another news that the wetland in the core area of nearly 8,000 mu would be rented by public bidding. It should be noted that these fishpond areas to be rented are the core areas in terms of ecological value. Are they going to completely “empty” this protected area?

 

In winter and spring 2018, an Oriental Stork “N35” was rescued by researchers and brought with positioning ring. It was observed that when it returned to the north and passed through Caofeidian wetland, it did not migrate according to the traditional route. Instead of flying from Hebei to Tianjin along the coastline, it flew directly across the sea to the Liaodong Peninsula and then northward. It is not hard to see from this phenomenon that if Caofeidian wetland is still managed in disorder and does not pay attention to the local ecological value, then the application work of 2022 Yellow and Bohai Sea Migratory Bird Habitat Project (Phase II) for world natural heritage, which the local government is actively working for, may also end in nothing.

 

Migratory birds come every year, but we don’t want to make the same mistakes every year. In any case, the “hollowed out” reserves like Caofeidian wetland and bird reserve should not go on like this anymore.


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(Photo credit: CBCGDF)


Original Chinese article:

http://www.cbcgdf.org/NewsShow/4854/11662.html


By / Xue Tongtong Modified / Maggie