Chongming Island, located at the mouth of the Yangtze River, has been building a world-class ecological island based on the principle of "water land coordinated restoration" since 2016. Over the past decade, what changes has ecological governance brought to the Yangtze River estuary?

When the morning light of the East pierces the sky, the ecological restoration team of Shanghai Aquatic Wildlife Conservation and Research Center arrived at the marine ranch located at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

As the tide receded, an artificial reef consisting of bamboo array, cement beam and four hole round platform was exposed on the vast mudflat.

Reporter Zhang from the headquarters sent:The ocean pasture at the mouth of the Yangtze River is a must pass for young Chinese sturgeons to swim from the Yangtze River into the East China Sea. Young Chinese sturgeons usually live here for about three months, undergoing physiological regulation from freshwater to saltwater. These artificial reefs serve to attach pioneering species such as algae and shellfish, attracting benthic organisms such as shrimp and crabs, and preparing a sumptuous "baby meal" for young Chinese sturgeons.

This marine ranch is located in the intertidal zone and can only be accessed during the ebb period of the major tide season. Within a short two-hour time window, the team will carry out monthly routine quantitative sampling and monitoring of benthic organisms.

The geological environment of the Yangtze River estuary is commonly known as "iron plate sand", which is a high hardness sediment layer formed by fine sand and silt brought by the Yangtze River runoff. The texture is hard, and it is difficult for seaweed, shellfish, and benthic organisms to form stable ecological communities here.

Wei Guangen, Engineer of Ecological Restoration Department at Shanghai Aquatic Wildlife Conservation and Research Center:Previously, under normal circumstances, the benthic biomass of a few square meters of "iron plate sand" was only in single digits. After the construction of artificial reefs, changing their sediment environment can make the sand very soft, making it easier for river clams to inhabit and increasing the biomass of benthic organisms.

The Shanghai Yangtze River estuary type marine ranch will be fully constructed by the end of 2024. In 2025, the research center monitored a total of 25 Chinese sturgeons in the Yangtze River estuary area, half of which were found in the waters near marine pastures.

When the spring comes across the river and sea, the grass on the mudflat turns green and spreads a fresh green. Here, some "old friends" come from afar.

Reporter Zhang from the headquarters sent:As an important transit station on the spring and autumn migration routes of migratory birds in the Asia Pacific region, a large number of migratory birds come here every year for transit, transfer, and wintering. Now is the peak period for the migration of shorebirds, so researchers will start a months long migratory bird environmental survey at this time.

Bird watchers are using traditional bird whistles to simulate the calls of birds, attracting them to come over for circling, and then releasing them.

Researchers put metal rings and flags on birds to mark their migration trajectories. In the past decade, the protected area has tracked and recorded information on 56 species and nearly 60000 migratory birds, and collected recycling records from 17 countries and 70 regions, contributing important data to global research on migratory birds.

The massive Dongtan ecological restoration project creates high-quality habitats. As of now, more than 300 species of birds have been recorded, including 20 species of national first-class protected birds and 62 species of second-class protected birds.

ShanghaiChongming Dongtan Nature ReserveWu Wei, Senior Engineer of Management Affairs Center:When the project was just completed in 2017, the recorded number of waterbirds was around 100000. Last year, waterbird monitoring showed that the recorded number of waterbirds reached 400000. The ecological effect of the entire ecological restoration project was very good.

After ten years of deep cultivation, the forest coverage rate on Chongming Island has continuously increased, the wetland protection rate has reached 68.29%, the proportion of surface water assessment sections meeting water quality standards has remained at 100%, and the excellent air quality rate has remained stable at around 90%.

From river and sea ecological restoration to biodiversity conservation, Chongming Island is not only a geographical island, but also a world-class ecological island carrying hope and the future.