The “China Waterfowl Protected Land” Set by CBCGDF and Legendary Wildlife Conservation Volunteer Tian Zhiwei Became 2018 Calendar Protagonists

Public participation is one of the four basic principles set out in the China Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (2011-2030). This principle points out that it is necessary to actively guide the broad participation of social groups and grassroots masses, strengthen the openness of information and the supervision of public opinion, and establish an effective mechanism through which the whole society can participate in the conservation of biological diversity.

In China, there are a group of non-governmental volunteers, Tian Zhiwei, is one of them and silently he contributes his efforts to the protection of wild animals. He was originally a veteran who has been working on waterfowl conservation in Tangshan, Hebei Province, for more than a decade. His hometown is located in the middle of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, where millions of wild birds migrate during spring and autumn each year, so it is also know as “Migratory Birds Inn” by bird experts. Birds are Tian’s childhood companion, from the army to become saltworks workers, from breeding fish to cold storage contracts, although his identity and occupation are changing, his enthusiasm for birds is never reduced. In order to protect the migratory birds flying through the Bohai Bay every year and a large number of rare resident birds, Tian patrolled wetlands almost daily for more than a decade and investigated the living conditions of wetland birds, prevented the acts of the collectors, rescued injured birds, publicize the truth of birds to the locals, his experiences over the years have made it possible for his naked eyes to judge what birds are flying beyong hundred meters. He also initiate the establishment of the Qinghe Rescue Station, has rescued more than 30 species of birds, more than 10 species of raptors and more than 50 species of wading birds. The number is more than 300, many of which are national precious birds. Bird-loving has become an important part of his life.

As a non-governmental environmental protection organization, Da Qinghe Salt Field Wildlife Rescue Station is mainly engaged in rescuing and researching of wild birds, publicizing and popularizing scientific knowledge of birds, birds science and knowledge, and organizing public participation in activities to protect birds and their habitats. In 2016, it was named as China Waterfowl Protected Land by CBCGDF. It was also named as Popular Science Education Base of Tangshan by Tangshan Scientific Association. Five years since its establishment, this site has rescued more than 300 first-class and second-class protected birds from the country. It has invited people from all walks of life to hold more than 80 times of flying events, organized volunteers to clear more than 30,000 bird nets, carried out more than 50 field talks for primary and secondary school students and received domestic and international primary and secondary school students and public bird watching groups more than 20 times. In the past two years, the station has also cooperated with international and domestic universities, research institutes and wildlife protection agencies to carry out follow-up observation of bird migration routes, observation of the number of local birds populations, and to save protection of endangered birds. In 2016, the station cooperated with Beijing Normal University for the first time in the world to achieve wading birds large-scale artificial incubation, and successfully flied them. In October 2016, at the invitation of CBCGDF, Dr. Bradnee Chambers, the Secretary-General of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wildlife (CMS) of UNEP, made a special trip to visit the Da Qinghe Station and highly praised Chinese non-governmental environmental organizations.

Now, the Da Qinghe Station led by Tian and the China Waterfowl Protected Land set up by CBCGDF have been printed on 2018 calendar which will attract more people and non-governmental forces to join the rescue of endangered wildlife. All of them are demonstrating that the people’s participation is indispensable through actual actions. It is an important force for promoting biodiversity conservation in China.