China Creates 274 Wetland Nature ReservesChina has set up 274 wetland nature reserves so far with a total area of 16 million hectares, said Ma Fu, deputy director of the State Forestry Administration, at a meeting Friday, December 29.Ma said that the government's efforts to protect wetlands have resulted in positive effects this year. China has seven wetland nature reserves that were listed among those of international importance and another 16 are expected to join in them by 2002. The country has finished the major part of a nationwide investigation on wetlands and wild animals that started in 1997. The results, which will be released early next year, are expected to offer accurate information for wetland conservation, he added. China has started five of the projects that were among the total of 40 unveiled in a national wetland conservation action plan since last November, as a critical step to carrying out the International Ramsar Convention China signed in 1992. The government also invested US$20.29 million in a five-year project to protect a diverse range of life forms in the wetlands. The project, starting last July, also attracted US$14 million from a fund under the World Bank. Ma noted that as wetlands in China are still facing threats from the poor use of water resources and pollution in rivers and lakes, more effort should be made in the future. China has more than 65.9 million hectares of wetland, the fourth largest area in the world, accounting for 10 percent of the world's total. |
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