Nanjing Yangtze River Xinjizhou National Wetland Park

Nanjing Yangtze River Xinjizhou National Wetland Park

Nanjing Yangtze River Xinjizhou National Wetland Park is a national-level wetland park.

Nanjing Yangtze River Xinjizhou National Wetland Park is located in Jiangning District, Nanjing. It is the city’s first national-level wetland park. The park includes five islands—Xinjizhou, Xinshengzhou, Zaishengzhou, Zimuzhou, and Zihui Zhou—as well as sections of the Yangtze River and adjacent mudflats, covering a total area of 58.6 square kilometers. Among them, Xinjizhou covers an area of 9.5 square kilometers and is known as the “No. 1 Island on the Yangtze River in Jiangsu.”

Xinjizhou Wetland Park is planned to have five functional zones

Xinjizhou is situated along the Nanjing section of the Yangtze River, being an island in the river, specifically 16 kilometers upstream from the Third Yangtze River Bridge. It is the third-largest midstream island in Nanjing, after Baguazhou and Jiangxinzhou. Due to the presence of Xinjizhou, the Yangtze River in the Nanjing section splits into two channels: the northern branch and the southern branch. In 2011, Xinjizhou Wetland was approved by the State Forestry Administration to establish the “Jiangsu Nanjing Yangtze River Xinjizhou National Wetland Park” (pilot). The park is located in Jiangning District, Nanjing, at the uppermost reaches of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province. It mainly includes the areas of Xinjizhou, Xinshengzhou, Zaishengzhou, Zimuzhou, and Zihui Zhou during low-water periods. The planned total area of the wetland park is 2,666.8 hectares.

According to the plan, the wetland park will feature five functional zones: a wetland conservation and protection zone (1,755.4 hectares), a wetland restoration and reconstruction zone (261.3 hectares), a science education and exhibition zone (65.5 hectares), a rational utilization demonstration zone (574.8 hectares), and a comprehensive management service zone (9.8 hectares). The wetland park centers around the typical mid-lower Yangtze River alluvial island wetland ecosystem, characterized by the Yangtze wetlands, several permanent and seasonal sandbars, inland lakes and streams, marsh wetlands, and ecological shelter forests. It serves as a national-level wetland park integrating conservation, science education, scientific research and monitoring, and eco-tourism.

Ecosystem

The island has an intact ecosystem where visitors can observe finless porpoises and rare birds

As the original residents of Xinjizhou were relocated to the mainland decades ago due to frequent Yangtze River floods, and the island has since been used primarily for scientific research, its overall ecosystem remains structurally intact. It boasts unique natural landscapes and rich biodiversity, with many rare plants and animals seldom seen on land found here.

According to incomplete statistics, the wetland park area is home to 366 species of vascular plants, belonging to 78 families and 219 genera. This includes three Class I nationally protected plants: yew, dawn redwood, and water shield; and five Class II nationally protected plants: water fern, camphor tree, lotus, wild water caltrop, and bischofia. Among wildlife, there are 12 species under Class II national protection, such as the finless porpoise and Chinese sparrowhawk. There are also 91 species listed in the “National Protected Beneficial or Economically and Scientifically Important Terrestrial Wildlife List,” 15 species included in the “Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES),” and 17 species listed as key protected animals in Jiangsu Province. Additionally, the Nanjing Yangtze River Xinjizhou National Wetland Park hosts numerous migratory birds jointly protected by China and Japan, as well as China and Australia. There are 34 species listed under the China-Japan Migratory Bird Protection Agreement and 9 species under the China-Australia Migratory Bird Protection Agreement.

After the acceptance inspection of Xinjizhou National Wetland Park, it will gradually open to the public starting in 2016—first to scientific research groups, then to student groups, as an educational base will be established here. Eventually, after resolving issues such as major transportation connections and cross-river safety, it will open to the general public.

Contact: Nanjing Yangtze River Xinjizhou National Wetland Park Management Center

Fax: 025-52186249

Email: 765853038@qq.com

Address: Xinji Wetland Dock, Lishui Street, Binjiang Development Zone, Jiangning District, Nanjing