Shandong declares Wetlands Year

Jinan (CNS) – Shandong province has declared 2012 "Wetlands Year" and will try to expand effective protection measures to cover 70 percent of this increasingly scarce territory by 2015, says Jia Chongfu, the secretary of Shandong Forestry Bureau announced on February 2, the 16th World Wetlands Day.

Jia said Shandong Province invested 1.3 billion yuan on wetland protection projects between 2006 and 2010, instituted effective protections for over 50 percent of its wildlife species, 70 percent of its wetland plant communities and 40 percent of its wetland ecosystem.

Seventeen wetland reservations have been established in Shandong province, with a total area of 620,000 hectares, in which Long Island National Nature reserve specifically shelters 60 kinds of state-protected birds, including the red-crowned crane, white stork, swan, white imperial eagle, golden eagle and vulture.