Hunan Chongling National Wetland Park

Hunan Chongling National Wetland Park

Hunan Chongling National Wetland Park is a national-level wetland park.

Hunan Chongling National Wetland Park is situated in Guiyang County, Hunan Province, 9.3 kilometers from the county seat and only 30 kilometers from downtown Chenzhou, the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, and the Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway. The wetland park is a north-south oriented, winding water corridor, stretching 29.3 kilometers from Qigong Bridge in the south to the dam of the Ouyanghai Reservoir in the north. With a total area of 3,220.0 hectares, the park includes 2,478.7 hectares of wetlands, accounting for 76.98%. Hunan Chongling National Wetland Park is a reservoir-river composite wetland park featuring a unique habitat, beautiful environment, and abundant natural and cultural resources. The park boasts diverse wetland types, including permanent rivers, floodplain wetlands, reservoirs, and aquaculture farms. These wetland types are interwoven throughout the park, creating varied landscapes and forming a series of interconnected yet independent composite wetland ecosystems. The park is rich in wetland biodiversity, with 244 species of wetland plants from 181 genera and 69 families, including 13 species under national key protection. The wetland vegetation consists of 3 vegetation type groups and 47 formations, exhibiting distinct seasonal changes and picturesque scenery. There are also 150 species of wild vertebrates from 61 families and 25 orders, including 7 species under national second-class protection, 4 species listed in the China Red Data Book of Endangered Animals, and 97 species categorized as "Three-Have" animals (useful, edible, and harmless) by the state. The wetland has a long history. Ancient human settlements such as the Qianjiaping Site, along with iconic Neolithic cultural relics from mid-to-late period Hunan like "white pottery," the influential "canal transport" culture, "fishing and hunting" culture, "tidal laborer" culture, and "Hunan Kunqu" culture, have nurtured historical figures such as Cai Lun, the inventor of papermaking, communist soldier Ouyang Hai, and World War II military hero Liu Fangwu. These elements highlight the park’s profound historical and cultural value, enriching the cultural significance of its ecological tourism.

The development of Hunan Chongling National Wetland Park adheres to the core principles of “protection first, scientific restoration, rational utilization, and sustainable development.” The goal is to establish a high-standard, reservoir-river composite wetland park that integrates wetland conservation, science education, and eco-tourism. It presents visitors with a breathtaking landscape painting of “green mountains as a backdrop, rivers and lakes as veins, hills encircling waters, scenic waterscapes interwoven with human life, and harmony between people and nature.”