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| China: Restoring a living Yangtze |
Introduction
The central Yangtze region has more lakes than anywhere else in China. In the past, these lakes played an important role in removing pollutants, retaining floodwater and preventing droughts. The free flow of water also allowed biodiversity to prosper.
However, due to land reclamation for urban and agricultural development, these lakes have been disconnected from the Yangtze River. This has had a devastating impact on the ecosystem with rare species such as the Baiji dolphin and finless porpoise now facing extinction.
The Yangtze River is over 6300kms long and holds 35% of China's total water resources. It hosts one third of China's population of fish species and runs through an area populated by 60 million people.
Supported by HSBC's funding of over £2.1million over 5 years, and working in partnership with local governments, WWF aims to recover the web of life in the central Yangtze River basin through policy work and demonstration projects that will re-link disconnected lakes, support local economic development and create a network of wetland reserves.
Once in place, these demonstration projects will result in the creation of natural wetlands, which will support a higher biodiversity of birds and fish, provide improved natural flood management and support the adoption of sustainable livelihoods for local people.
Five-year Objectives
- Effective Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) Committee established to restore a Living Yangtze.
- Government commitment obtained for the restoration of 1000km² of wetland to unblock the arteries of the Central Yangtze freshwater system, with 200km² of wetland fully restored.
- Farmers and business people prosper at the demonstration site, benefiting from alternative livelihoods such as fish farming and growing aquatic vegetables.
- New breeding area for fish, and wintering area for waterfowl, demonstrates the recovery of the natural system.
- 80 million cubic meters increase in the water retention capacity of the demonstration lakes, with 7 million people in Wuhan City directly benefiting from a reduced risk of flooding.
Impacts and Successes
• A Yangtze forum has been established to act as a precursor to Integrated Yangtze River Basin Commission. This forum is responsible for developing a vision for the river's management and to co-ordinate the activities of national and provincial government.
• At the forum launch the national ministries and provisional governments agreed a vision for the Yangtze and identified three areas of focus: clean drinking water supply, flood protection and restoration of ecologically threatened areas. This will impact directly on the health and development of the 400 million people living in the basin and on the ecological health of the basin itself.
• Restoration of a demonstration site at Lake Hong has been so successful that in nine months the water quality improved to drinkable and 1500 nesting birds returned. The success has levered an additional £5m from local government to restore the entire lake (86sq km) and will set a precedent for further lake restoration.
• A joint national and international Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) taskforce was established to inform and design guidelines for IRBM implementation.
• Continuing financial and technical support to the Yangtze Forum Secretariat has been assured, which will drive the process to establish a Yangtze River Basin Commission.
• WWF was invited to lead on the preparation of a Central and Lower Yangtze Wetland Conservation Plan for central government.
• Guidelines for IRBM implementation in China were accepted by the China State Council. As a result, the Yangtze Water Resource Commission is now revising the Yangtze Basin Comprehensive Utilization and Development Plan to make it more sustainable and integrated.
• Relinking the Tian'e-Zhou oxbow to the Yangtze River has demonstrated the socio-economic and ecological benefits of relinkage. As a result three other lake clusters have done likewise, restoring natural flood regimes, acting as vital additional flood retention bodies, and restoring fish migration back into the lakes.
• The alternative livelihoods demonstrations in Zhangdu lake have been so successful that the chemical free "eco fishery" model has been expanded from four households to 100, and the Zhangdu Fishery authority is now incorporating the model into its master plan for fish farming. Farmers using this model are earning around 300% more than they did previously.
• The 4ha bamboo demo project as an alternative to chemical fish farming has been recognized by government as having so much potential that they are funding a further 1300ha of bamboo cultivation as an alternative to fish farming.
Fact Sheet
Fact sheet - January 2006
Web Links
www.hsbc.com/hsbc/society |
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Yangtze River
Philip Leonard
HSBC Freshwater Programme Manager
Further information
To find out more about WWF's work on this programme, visit the Yangtze River section of the WWF International website.
Find out more about WWF UK's work on freshwater ecosystems |
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