Haifeng Provincial Bird Nature Reserve

Haifeng Provincial Bird Nature Reserve

The Haifeng Provincial Bird Nature Reserve is a provincial-level nature reserve.

The Guangdong Haifeng Provincial Bird Nature Reserve was established in 1998 with approval from the provincial government, focusing on the protection of birds and their habitats. In 2000, it was included in the development plan for proposed national nature reserves (2000–2009) by the Provincial People’s Congress and the Provincial Government. In 2006, it was listed by the State Forestry Administration as a priority project in the “National Wetland Conservation Project Implementation Plan” and also included in the priority list of national nature reserves for promotion within the national forestry system.

The Guangdong Haifeng Provincial Bird Nature Reserve is located in Haifeng County, Shanwei City, Guangdong Province, on the shores of the South China Sea. It lies 290 km west of Guangzhou, 197 km from Shenzhen, 180 km east of Shantou, and 81 nautical miles from Hong Kong by waterway. The reserve consists of the Gongping, Dahuhu, and Dongguan Lian’anwei areas, all within the Huangjiang River basin, covering a total area of 11,590.5 hectares. Among these, the Gongping area is situated in the upper reaches of the Huangjiang River, while the Dahuhu and Dongguan Lian’anwei areas are the only two estuaries of the Huangjiang River. These three wetlands complement each other in type and in the distribution of waterbird resources, together forming a complex and diverse composite wetland ecosystem within the same river basin. It is an important part of the bird and wetland-type nature reserve network in the South China Sea region of the Asia-Pacific, and one of the rare bird nature reserves along China's southeast coast.

By 2013, a total of 264 bird species belonging to 17 orders and 53 families had been recorded in the wetlands of the reserve. Among them, there is 1 species under National Class I protection, 36 species under National Class II protection, 107 species listed under the China–Japan Migratory Bird Agreement, 47 species under the China–Australia Migratory Bird Agreement, and 49 species on the China–US Migratory Bird List. Every winter, more than 40,000 migratory birds overwinter here. In November 2005, Haifeng County was awarded the title “Hometown of China’s Waterbirds” by the China Wildlife Conservation Association. In 2008, it was officially included in the list of Internationally Important Wetlands.

Source: State Forestry Administration