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| China names nine new Ramsar sites for World Wetlands Day |
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2005/2/1
The Secretariat of Ramsar Convention of Wetlands is delighted to announce that the Government of the People's Republic of China has designated nine new Wetlands of International Importance, with a surface area of nearly 400,000 hectares. One of them, Shuangtai Estuary on the Liao River in northeastern China, makes up part of what has been called "the world's largest reed bed". The other eight new Ramsar sites are all in Qinghai and Yunnan Provinces and the Tibet Autonomous Region and are all high-altitude marshes and lakes, one as high as 6,500 meters asl, among the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow, and Yalu Tsangpo/Brahmaputra Rivers. All of these have very important hydrological functions, both locally and downstream, and all are extremely valuable sites for migratory birds, including the endangered Black-necked Crane Grus nigricollis. Because of the relative isolation of the sites, some of them have high levels of endemism, particularly with fish species, and they are vital sources of livelihood for the populations nearby. These new mountain designations have been made as part of China's efforts in the "Wetland Conservation and Wise Use in the Himalayan High Mountains" initiative and have been assisted by support from WWF China and WWF's Global Freshwater Programme.
Names of the nine new sites are as follows:
1.Bitahai Wetland.(Yunnan; 1,985 ha; 27o42'N 100o01'E. )
2.Dashanbao. (Yunnan; 5,958 ha; 27o24'N 103o20'E. )
3.Eling Lake. (Qinghai; 65,907 ha; 34o56'N 097o43'E. )
4.Lashihai Wetland. (Yunnan; 3560 ha; 26o53'N 100o08'E. )
5.Maidika. (Tibet Autonomous Region; 43,496 ha; 31°08'N, 093°00'E. )
6.Mapangyong Cuo. (Tibet Autonomous Region; 73,782 hectares; 30°44' N 081°19'E. )
7.Napahai Wetland. (Yunnan; 2,083 ha; 27o51'N 099o38′E. )
8.Shuangtai Estuary. (Liaoning; 128,000 ha; 41o00'N, 121o47'E. )
9.Zhaling Lake. (Qinghai; 64,920 ha; 34o55'N 097o16'E. )
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| Source:CERN |
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