On November 5, the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Rasmar Convention (COP14) officially opened in Wuhan, China. Jingzhou, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in Hubei, is also a wetland city. It is a thriving and beautiful city with rich wetland resources. Jingzhou Ancient City National Wetland Park is the shiniest gem in the painting-like city, where the people, water and city coexist with one another in harmony. In recent years, to better protect its natural ecology, Jingzhou has accelerated the construction of the national wetland parks, strengthened the ecological restoration of wetlands, and continuously improved the regional ecological environment of the ancient city, which brought about comprehensive benefits to the city's ecology, economy and social development.
In the educational areas and conservation areas of Jingzhou Ancient City National Wetland Park, the students of Jingzhou Experimental Elementary School stroll along the tree-lined trail, enjoying the natural landscape of the conservation area while listening to a lecture about wetlands. Coated in the golden glow of late autumn, the park is the perfect place for children to learn about wetlands and discover their unique beauty.
In order to create this beautiful wetland park, Jingzhou City has invested more than 2 million RMB. The investment covered the fees of a 6.67-hectare green belt along the shore, the removal of alien species and the environmental upgrade of over 30 hectares of water surfaces and riverbanks. Now, in order to maintain the hard-won beauty of the wetland, Jingzhou Ancient City National Wetland Park and Jingzhou Experimental Elementary School jointly established a wetland education center at the Jingxianghe management station of the park, to encourage children to actively learn about the ways to protect wetlands and raise their awareness of the importance of wetland protection.
With "clear water, lively river, solid dike, green bank and beautiful view" as the goals, Jingzhou Ancient City National Wetland Park fully adopted the river-supervisor system previously adopted by Lake Taihu Port, the city moat and Jingxianghe River, banned fishing, restored the wetland, and assembled a special inspection team for its management and protection. At present, nearly 10 million RMB has been invested in the ecological protection and restoration of the wetlands in the park, as well as the overall management and monitoring of the park's environment.
The monitoring statistics show that the number of wild bird species of s in the park has increased from 79 to 135. In 2019, rangers at the park spotted Baer's pochards, classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as a critically endangered (CR) species.
Like a city floating on the green water among thousands miles of plain, Jingzhou Ancient City today is a place where the urban and wetland landscapes seamlessly blend into a view of harmony. Every corner of the city is elegantly decorated with lotus blossoms and waving willows. More and more people are falling in love with strolling in the wetland park at sunset to fully enjoy the peace of mind and joy brought by nature. With a total area of 469.41 hectares, Jingzhou Ancient City National Wetland Park has now become a favorite spot for the local residents.