Tiaozini: a paradise for migratory birds in E China

Photo shows birds resting at Tiaozini wetland, the core area of the World Heritage Site - the Yellow (Bohai) Sea Migratory Bird Habitat in Dongtai, a county-level city in east China’s Jiangsu province. (Photo/Dong Xuan)

Tiaozini, the core area of the Yellow (Bohai) Sea Migratory Bird Habitat in Dongtai, a county-level city east China’s Jiangsu province and a World Heritage Site, has provided an ideal habitat for migratory birds.

Every year, over 1 million migratory birds on the East Asian-Australian flyway make a stopover in the Yellow Sea wetland. To make sure the birds are safe during their stay here, Dongtai built a 48-hectare habitat while making sure it’s not exposed to threats posed by sea-level rises.

Now, the wetland, which consists of four sub-areas, has realized a level of bird protection of more than 69 percent. It has also turned 1,133 hectares of fishing area into wetlands, and reduced the area of wetlands invaded by the harmful smooth cordgrass by 800 hectares.

Thanks to the sound ecological environment, a breeding ground for Larus Saundersi covering 200 hectares and a habitat for wild geese and ducks covering 666.67 hectares were naturally formed in the Tiaozini wetland.

The wetland has strengthened protection of the birds’ habitats by organizing staff members to patrol the areas 24 hours a day. Thanks to these efforts, the number of bird species stopping on the wetland has increased by 22 to 410 over the past two years.