Beidagang.jpg (Photo : Reuters)
The local government in Tianjin City announced on Tuesday that it has drafted a plan for an eco-park in the Beidagang wetland, according to Xinhua News Agency.
The park will serve as a sanctuary for the migratory birds visiting the 34,887-hectare wetland, which is an important station for the animals as they migrate from Inner Mongolia to Bohai Gulf in east China and a vital part of the world's eight migration paths for birds.
The eco-park will also house a research station for ornithologists working in the wetland.
According to a spokesperson for the Tianjin Binhai New Area government, the local authorities will be working with international environmental organizations in building the project.
More than 200 million species of birds make a visit to the wetland annually, according to Yang Jiwen, director of the Beidagang Wildlife Station Protection Station.
Birds that include wild geese, swans and the endangered oriental white stork have visited Beidagang since the start of November, said Yang.
Only about 3,000 oriental white storks are in existence, of which 800 visit the wetland, according to Beijing Normal University ornithologist Zhang Zhengwang.
Twenty of these birds were found dead at the reserve due to pesticide in 2012, prompting authorities to install measures to protect them better.
