More than 120 representatives from 11 countries and organizations, including UNDP and WWF, have jointly published the Dongtinghua Lake Manifesto at the Wetland Protection and Sustainable Utility International Symposium held in Yueyang City, Hunan Province.

The 11 countries attended the meeting were China, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Cameroon, South Africa, U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia and Britain. Li Zhongping, president of the Forestry Investigation and Planning Institute of the State Forestry Administration, said the Dongtinghu Lake Manifesto represents the aspirations of all those working on wetlands protection and it is also a major achievement of this international symposium.

Dongtinghu Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China and it is also playing an important role in China's ecology, society and culture. Under the support of the Chinese government as well as the international communities, the protection of Dongtinghu Lake wetlands has been included into the agenda of the sustainable development of Dongtinghua Lake area and even that of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.