A recent survey shows 116 species of wintering birds have spent winter in the vast Poyang Lake region, China's largest freshwater lake in eastern Jiangxi Province.

The survey concerning birds resources in wetlands along the Yangtze's mid-lower reaches and off the Southern Yellow Sea, the first of its kind, lasted from winter of 2003 to this spring, and it was conducted simultaneously by central China's Hubei and Hunan provinces, and eastern Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces and Shanghai municipality.

According to the survey, 116 species of birds were spotted in the Poyang Lake region during the past winter, among which there were 133,800 aquatic birds of 72 species, 42 raptorial birds in nine species and other birds in 35 species.

There are plentiful wetlands resources along the Yangtze's middle and lower reaches and the coastal region of Southern Yellow Sea, which attracted flock after flock of aquatic birds in varied species to pass the winter there, such as cranes, wild swans, Chinese Merganser and other rare birds species.

A regulation pertaining to the protection of Poyang Lake wetlands issued by the Jiangxi provincial government has gone into effect this year in an effort to ensure a much safer environment for these wintering birds.

According to the regulation, from October 1 to the next March 30 every year when migratory birds were scattered around, fishing activities are banned in the Poyang Lake region, and hunting and culling of migratory birds and other rare aquatic birds are also prohibited.

The survey was conducted jointly by World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) and its China branch and the Chinese State Forestry Administration.

(Xinhua News Agency February 18, 2004)