Chinese President Xi Jinping last month for the first time presented specific carbon emissions reduction targets. This was interpreted as a starting gun for accelerating the green transition that China has been pushing. ChosunBiz visits Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, a city realizing coexistence between "environmental protection" and "industrial development" under China's ecological civilization philosophy, to closely examine the sites of ecological restoration and industrial development here. [Editor's note]
23rd morning at the Yellow Sea wetland in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, China. Looking through binoculars at the mudflat covered with gentle ripples, more than 200 birds at a glance were splashing in the water. Not only gray herons and black-winged stilts, common resident and summer migratory birds in Korea, but also the very rarely observed Baer's pochard and spoon-billed sandpiper were spotted.
This is the Tiaozini wetland reserve in Dongtai, which drew attention when flamingos, which inhabit Africa and Europe, were unusually found. Large birds such as storks, which require vast wetlands and abundant food, are also frequently found at Tiaozini.
The endangered species Nordmann's greenshank and spoon-billed sandpiper, which breed in Russia, pass along Korea's west coast and China's east coast, and winter in Southeast Asia, also come here. In particular, the spoon-billed sandpiper, one of the world's most endangered species, is more precious in China than the giant panda. Because the tip of its bill resembles a spoon, it is called "spoon-billed sandpiper (勺嘴鹬)" in Chinese. It is about the size of a sparrow but flies more than 2,000 km at a time. Its total migration route exceeds 8,000 km.
An official at the Tiaozini wetland reserve said, "There are only about 400 adult spoon-billed sandpipers in the world, and during the autumn migration season, more than 50% of the global population comes here." City authorities assess that the frequent sightings of rare birds in the Yellow Sea wetland are the result of Yancheng's success in conserving wetland ecology.
◇ The largest mudflat formed by long-term sedimentation… migratory birds from around the world flock here
The Yellow Sea wetland was formed as soil and sand were deposited in the sea over a long period while rivers such as the Yellow River flowed into it. According to the Tiaozini wetland reserve, most of the Yancheng area is land created as the coastline retreated. Thanks to that, it has an expansive mudflat stretching as far as the eye can see. Yancheng is also the only city in China without mountains.
The Yellow Sea wetland is a region that rare birds rely on and is a key section of the East Asian–Australasian Flyway, one of the world's most densely used migratory routes. Hundreds of millions of migratory birds stop here every year. A total of 414 species have been recorded through this year. Recognized for its biodiversity, the Yellow Sea wetland was inscribed as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site in 2019. It is China's first coastal wetland natural heritage, meaning the country's natural heritage has expanded from being land-centered to the coast.
◇ Native deer restored from 39 to 8,500, successful rewilding
Yancheng has not only rare bird reserves like the Tiaozini wetland reserve but also a national-level reserve to conserve milu deer. The milu is a native Chinese deer that was bred only in the imperial hunting park during the Qing dynasty and went extinct in the wild. Only a very small number exported overseas in the early 20th century survived, and in 1986 the government accepted milu deer returned from the United Kingdom and began restoring the population.
That afternoon, we visited the nearby Dafeng National Nature Reserve for milu deer. After riding an electric cart across the fields to the water's edge, dozens of deer were seen soaking in the water and resting. The deer naturally formed herds to graze or gathered under the shade of trees to rest. They were unbothered by the passing electric cart, and three or four even approached to take carrots from visitors.
As striking as the gentle, leisurely deer was the ecological environment. Contrary to expectations that it would resemble other deer parks, this place looked similar to a wild environment. The 12-square-kilometer reserve offered diverse habitats, including wetlands, reed beds, and forests. Thanks to the excellent ecological conditions, about 400 species of wildlife, including wild cranes, storks, and white-tailed eagles, live here together.
About 5,000 milu deer currently live inside the reserve. The 39 milu deer brought from the United Kingdom in the 1980s were initially kept in fenced enclosures, and after their numbers increased sufficiently through stable growth and breeding, they were moved to semi-wild areas. Keepers minimize feeding, and the deer adapt to the natural environment by grazing and finding water on their own. Once they adapt successfully at this stage, they are released into the wild outside the reserve with tracking devices attached. Of the population that has grown to more than 8,500, 3,673 live in a fully wild environment.
Xin Changxing, Jiangsu provincial party secretary, said, "In recent years, coastal water quality in Jiangsu has steadily improved. Marine life and coastal migratory bird populations are also continuously increasing," adding, "Starting with just over 30 and restoring the population to more than 8,000—an increase of more than 200 times—is regarded as a case study in global biodiversity conservation."