Hebei Provincial Forestry Department says that they will build 19 new wetland protection areas around Beijing and Tianjin by 2015 and this will bring the total number of wetlands in the region to 23.
The 19 wetlands will occupy a total area of up to 600,000 hectares. They will include the Guanting Reservoir Upper Reach Wetland and Shandianhe River Wetland that are used for nurturing water resources, and others that are designed for wildlife and wetland ecological system protection.
Hebei featured rich wetland resources about 50 years ago, but due to climate change and the increase of water consumption, the wetlands in the province have been reduced over the years. Right now, there are only several wetlands left, including Baiyangdian, Hengshuihu, Dalangding and Nandagang. Recently, the province invested up to RMB30 million on the protection and recovery of three main projects of Saihan Wetland, Xiaowutai Mountain Protection Area and Baiyangdian Wetland.
