Yalu River Estuary Coastal Wetland

Yalu River Estuary Coastal Wetland

Yalu River Estuary Coastal Wetland

The Yalu River Estuary Coastal Wetland National Nature Reserve is located in Donggang City, Liaoning Province, covering an area of 108,100 hectares. It was established in 1987 with the approval of the former Donggou County People’s Government, upgraded to a provincial-level reserve in 1995, and approved as a national-level reserve in 1997. Its primary conservation targets are coastal wetland ecosystems.

This area is situated at the northernmost tip of China’s coastline, where the plant floras of North China and Northeast China converge. The region features a transitional zone where three major ecosystems—terrestrial, tidal flat, and marine—meet, forming a complex and diverse range of ecosystem types including reed wetlands, marshes, lakes, tidal marshes, and estuarine bays. The natural environment here is unique, sensitive, and fragile, with the formation and evolution of the wetland ecosystem being long and complex.

The area boasts relatively rich species resources, with 64 families and 289 species of higher plants, among which wild soybean is a nationally protected wild plant. In terms of wildlife, there are 88 species of fish, 3 species of amphibians, 240 species of birds from 44 families, 74 species of benthic animals, and 54 species of planktonic animals. There are 8 species under national first-class protection, such as the red-crowned crane and the white stork, and 30 species under national second-class protection, such as the whooper swan and the Eurasian spoonbill. Of the 227 migratory bird species protected under the China-Japan Migratory Bird Protection Agreement, 121 have been found in the reserve, accounting for 55.3%. It serves as an important habitat and stopover site for birds migrating across Northeast Asia. The area also has abundant economic flora and fauna resources, producing 50,000 tons of reeds annually and over 90,000 tons of aquatic products such as clams and razor clams. The establishment of the reserve provides the world with a permanent natural baseline of coastal wetland ecological environments and a genetic repository of wild species, holding significant economic, social, and environmental value.