About 20,000 mu (13.3 square kilometers) of wetlands have been restored in northwestern Beijing during the past decade and the flourishing flora has attracted many birds to the area, local wetland management office said Monday.
According to October's data, a total of 295 breeds of birds, 53 of which are nationally protected, were found in Yeya (Wild duck) Lake Wetland Reserve in suburb Beijing's Yanqing suburb. About 20,000 wild ducks and 32 types of geese were also spotted.
A total of 62 breeds of birds, including cranes, eagles and gulls were first seen in the wetland over the past 10 years. The white crane, a first-grade national protected bird never before seen in Beijing, was first spotted in the park in 2013.
One hundred and fifteen kinds of 115 higher plants, including bladderwort, the only carnivorous plant in northern China, were also added to the reserve's flora, the office said.
Yeya Lake Reserve became Beijing's first wetland conservation area in 1997. It functions as an ecological defense to Beijing, protecting the city's water source and providing a habitat for wild animals.
