Further commercial development will destroy the city’s diverse
wildlife, unless local government can devise more ecologically
friendly methods, according to researchers at a symposium held last
week.
Researchers from the Shanghai Natural History Museum said they have
discovered a number of untouched suburban areas around the city
where wildlife exist.
According to the researchers, the eastern bank of Chongming Island,
north of Shanghai, Jiu Duansha, a tidal island between Changxing
Island and Pudong International Airport, and three small islands in
the southeast of Jinshan District are all home to a great variety
of wildlife.
Years of research uncovered about 30 species protected by national
conservation laws.
Among them are about seven species of animals, such as elk deer,
also known as David’s deer; 143 bird species, such as the white
stork; at least 90 fish species, such as the Chinese paddlefish;
150 insect types; and more than 450 plants, such as the camphor
tree, researchers said.
“Since Shanghai is at the mouth of the Yangtze River Delta, it
makes a favorable place for sub-tropical plants and animals,” said
Jin Xingbao, the museum’s deputy director.
“But if we don’t take measures to preserve its original state,
construction will swallow it.”
Though the city passed environ-mental laws years ago, some
developers have flagrantly violated them. In Pudong, for example,
developers overturned vast areas of soil, leaving many animals
homeless and plants rootless. Land reclamation projects, which
started back in the 1960s, are threatening the city’s ecosystem by
forcing out animals and birds from their natural surroundings, the
experts said.
Jin said that more than 6,000 years ago, Shanghai was a forest, but
lumbering and development killed off much of the original
wildlife.
“Some people don’t know how to recover the city’s ecosystem. They
just dig up trees from other areas and plant them in the city,” Jin
said.
“In fact, though these trees can solve some ongoing environmental
problems, they won’t help building up an ecosystem in the long
run.”
She said growing grass and planting trees to attract animals and
beautify the city must be done gradually, so as not to disturb the
natural order of the ecosystem.
Jin said biologists need support from lawmakers and officials from
government departments.
(Eastday. com 10/30/2000)