The wetland of China's largest freshwater lake, Poyang Lake in eastern Jiangxi Province, has been applied for a world natural World Heritage, according to a provincial government source on Thursday.
   
Application was made formally to the Chinese Ministry of Construction and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This will be the first wetland natural reserve to apply for natural world heritage in Jiangxi.
   
Located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China's longest river, Poyang Lake wetland is one of the world's six top wetlands abundant in various species.
   
The wetland, whose area accounts for 97.2 percent of the total wetland area in Jiangxi, is also among the first batch of wetlands in China listed as the world's leading wetlands.
   
Since Jiangxi set up a provincial-level bird protection haven around Poyang Lake in 1981, a total of 15 natural reserves have been established in the lake area, covering an area of 22,400 hectares.
   
Currently, the lake area has become home for more than 310 kinds of birds, 47 kinds of wildlife, 122 kinds of fish, 122 varieties of shell fish, 227 kinds of insects, 47 types of zooplankton, 50 types of phytoplankton and nearly 480 species of higher plants.
   
Every year, approximately 300,000 migratory birds come to the lake for winter, including some 3,900 white cranes, about 95 percent of the world total, and flocks of other rare birds.
   
In recent years, over-exploitation in the lake area has resulted in waste and destruction across the wetland. Experts said the application for the natural world heritage may help increase the awareness of locals for protecting the wetland resources.

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2004)