Jiujiu... "With a faint morning light and bursts of bird songs breaking the tranquility of early winter, Nanjing Yangtze River Xinjizhou National Wetland Park (hereinafter referred to as" Xinjizhou Wetland Park ") began another lively day. Every morning when I come to the office, the most anticipated thing is to open the ecological monitoring system and see if there are any new migratory birds visiting Li Quanwen, the director of the office of Xinjizhou Wetland Park Management Center, eagerly checked while speaking, "Look, the Oriental White Stork is pacing in the shallow water area, and the White Spoonbill has a beak like a pipa..." The ecological monitoring system shows that in early October, about 500 cormorants first flew to Xinshengzhou in the park; Around October 10th, nearly a thousand spotted billed ducks and mallards settled in Xinshengzhou, Zimuzhou, and Xinjizhou; At the end of October, the Oriental White Stork, White Spoonbill, and Flower Faced Duck also arrived one after another as scheduled... "Currently, the autumn and winter migratory season has begun, and the total number of migratory birds in Xinjizhou Wetland Park has exceeded 10000. It is expected that the number of Oriental White Stork and White Spoonbill will exceed the historical record." Li Quanwen is full of expectations, "With more and more 'new and old friends' joining, a magnificent picture of migratory bird carnival is slowly unfolding." Xinjizhou Wetland Park is located in Jiangning District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, with a total area of about 26.81 square kilometers, including five islands such as Xinjizhou, Xinshengzhou, Zaishengzhou, Zimuzhou, and Zihuizhou during the low water level of the Yangtze River, as well as land docks. A typical representative of the intertidal wetlands in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. From above, it looks like a gem embedded in the Yangtze River; Standing among them, the air is refreshing, like entering a paradise on earth. Almost unrecognizable Chen Baohua, who was originally a villager on Xinjizhou Island and is now an employee of the park's shipping department, exclaimed about the land where he grew up. What was it like before Journalists are curious. That's a 'six no' river island Chen Baohua said that in the past, there were nearly 4000 villagers living on Xinjizhou Island, and "the environment was poor, there were not many organisms, flood prevention was unstable, travel was inconvenient, life was not prosperous, and the people were dissatisfied" were the true portrayal of the island. Since the 1990s, Xinjizhou Island has entered a stage of extensive development - with more village run factories, extensive use of pesticides and fertilizers in agricultural production, accumulation of household waste, and rampant poultry... The ecological burden on the island has gradually increased. The environment is slowly deteriorating, but we are close to water but not close to it. "When talking about that scene, Chen Baohua's words were full of regret. Now it's really a big change. The island is green, the water is clear, there are more fish in the river and birds in the sky. Everyone praises this as an ecological treasure trove Chen Baohua's tone changed. The 'big change' he talked about starts with an 'immigration' over 20 years ago. In November 2000, Jiangning implemented "ecological migration" for all residents on the island, and Xinjizhou Island began a recuperation mode. Subsequently, the other islands also ceased production activities one after another. In order to restore the vitality of wetlands, local science has carried out restoration work, dividing Xinjizhou Wetland Park into wetland conservation area, restoration and reconstruction area, and rational utilization area. Except for Xinjizhou Island, the other four islands are wetland conservation areas. Wetland conservation areas are mainly used as habitats for various animals and breeding grounds for plants. Except for scientific research and popular science education related work, other personnel are not allowed to visit the island unless necessary. For the riverbanks with weak erosion caused by the Yangtze River water flow, green afforestation was implemented by utilizing the flood resistant and well-developed root systems of willows, maple trees, etc., to protect and restore the vegetation belts along the riverbanks of five islands. The wetland area of the park increased from 1063.5 hectares to 1876.1 hectares. At the same time, the local government has strengthened the control of pollution along the Yangtze River coastline, demolishing and rectifying more than 50 "scattered pollution" enterprises along the coastline, gradually achieving pollution reduction and ecological progress. After years of 'free range' and restoration, Xinjizhou Wetland Park has almost restored the most primitive appearance of nature, and there have been significant achievements in biodiversity conservation Li Quanwen presented a set of data to reporters: as of May 2024, there are a total of 1704 species of various biological resources in Xinjizhou Wetland Park, including 584 species of vascular plants, 404 species of insects, 436 species of aquatic organisms (including 38 species of fish), and 280 species of terrestrial vertebrates (including 37 species of amphibians and reptiles, 224 species of birds, and 19 species of mammals). Every year, more than 50000 waterfowl regularly inhabit the wetlands, including six species of waterfowl such as the Oriental White Stork, White Spoonbill, and Flower faced Duck, which have formed stable overwintering populations within the Xinjizhou Wetland Park, with quantities exceeding 1% of the global regional population Li Quanwen is very proud, "This has become a true 'bird paradise'." "Suddenly flying out of the roadside canal, feathers shimmer with metallic luster in the sunlight, rare to see!" Recalling the scene of encountering the "giant panda among birds" black stork for the first time last year, Chen Sheng, a member of the biodiversity survey team at Nanjing University, couldn't hide his excitement. "Whether the ecology is good or not, birds have the most say. During the migration process, they will observe from the air and search for places with lush vegetation and abundant food." "In recent years, through the monitoring points of Xinjizhou Wetland Park, the number of bird species we have monitored has been increasing year by year," Chen Sheng said. Establishing a 'relay station' and safeguarding this precious wetland is of great significance for biodiversity conservation Guarding is still being done in other ways. In recent years, we have focused on leveraging the role of science popularization and education, frequently organizing wetland study tours to allow students to experience the beauty of wetland ecology and enhance their awareness of conservation Zhang Wanning, the education officer of Xinjizhou Wetland Park, said that at the same time, they are holding various activities such as proliferation broadcasting, slow live streaming, outdoor big screen broadcasting of promotional videos in downtown areas, and online launch of the Yunyou Xinjizhou mini program, which are constantly attracting public attention to wetland ecological protection. In the park, there are not only 'adventurer' black kites, but also 'dancer' little swans, 'artist' white spoonbills... "This year, educational personnel from Xinjizhou Wetland Park visited primary schools in Nanjing and led children to meet this unique group of animal friends. The butterfly on the island of Zhou is reborn, and the story continues - tens of thousands of birds soar in the sky, the "smiling angel" finless porpoise occasionally peeks out of the water to observe, children studying are getting close to nature in the forest, and the "green industry" in Jiangning on the shore is flourishing... (New Press)