During the National Day, some netizens posted that in the Dongtai Tiaozi Wetland Scenic Area in Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, a large number of tourists went down to the beach and chased the sea in the bird sanctuary. However, tourists who went to bird watching were dissuaded by the scenic security guards, saying that "bird watchers cannot go down the beach here" caused a hot discussion on the Internet. Many netizens and bird watching enthusiasts believe that the situation of too many tourists and noisy environment is not conducive to the habitat of precious birds in the scenic spot, and questions whether the scenic spot is ready to transform the protected area into a sea-catching recreation area.
In this regard, the relevant person in charge of the scenic spot visitor center replied to the Red Star News reporter that the scenic spot has no plan to transform the protected area into a recreation area. Bird sanctuaries have always prohibited tourists from going down to the beach to catch the sea. The situation during the National Day period is too large and difficult to control, and the publicity will be increased in the later stage to improve the environmental awareness of tourists.
Visitors enter the bird sanctuary
Netizens questioned:
Tourists flock to the reserve to catch the sea, which is not conducive to the rest of the birds
On the afternoon of October 5, bird watching enthusiast Xiao Shan (pseudonym) and his friends came to the bird watching experience area located on the southeast side of the Tiaozi Ni Scenic Area to watch birds, but they were stopped by the security guards at the scene, telling them that "bird watchers are not allowed to go down the beach here." The security guard also told them that "it is said that the scenic spot will make the tidal flats of the original so-called bird sanctuary to catch the sea." Xiaoshan and his friends found that in the area where "birdwatchers are not allowed to go to the beach", a large number of tourists go down to the beach to catch the sea, picking up shells, crabs, fish and so on. Xiaoshan's friend wrote in the circle of friends: "Since the sign of not letting the beach be erected last year, we have been abiding by the rules when we come here, and if we do not go down the beach in this area, why should we be treated with double standards?" ”
Screenshot of the circle of friends posted by a friend of The Hill
From the "Floor Plan of the Tiaozi Ni Scenic Area", it can be seen that in the middle of the No. 2 and No. 3 bird watching experience areas that Xiaoshan and his friends go to, there is a "sea fun play area" for tourists to carry out activities such as catching sea shells and picking up shells. The "Bird Watching Experience Zone" on both sides of the recreation area is adjacent to the Bird Sanctuary and is usually only open to bird watchers, not to sea tourists. Photos of the scene provided by Koyama show that around the bird watching experience area there are signs that read "Bird Sanctuary, No Beach" and there are cordons tied at both ends of the signs. Inside the cordon, many tourists are playing. "The part of the bird watching area No. 2 has been occupied by the sea-driving army." Koyama said.
Floor plan of the strip mud scenic spot
On the morning of October 6th, Xiaoshan and his friends came to the Tiaozi Mud Scenic Area again. Xiaoshan told The Red Star News reporter that at about 9 o'clock, he and his friends had seen a larger and more conspicuous "no beach" warning sign on the beach. However, at about 10:40, when Koyama and his friends returned to the place again, they found that the warning signs were missing, and only some smaller warning signs were left around, so he suspected that the scenic spot had removed the warning signs to cooperate with the "transformation".
Xiaoshan also mentioned to the Red Star News reporter that when his friend went to the Tiaozi Mud Scenic Area last year, he felt that the fishing boat performance in the sea amusement area was too loud, and some people released drones, worried that these factors were not conducive to birds resting.
Another netizen, Xiao Wang, visited the Tiaozi Mud Scenic Area not long before the National Day. She said there were some glass houses near the bird watching area, and within two hours, she and friends had witnessed two birds hitting the glass. She reported the situation to staff, who said they had purchased anti-collision stickers.
Glass house in the scenic area
Birds that fall after hitting glass in the scenic area
In addition, a bird watcher who has been observing spoon-billed sandpipers in the Tiaozi Mud Scenic Area for a long time told Red Star News that tourists have seen tourists driving yachts fishing in the area known as "10,000 acres" and close to the core area, worried that such behavior will affect the habitat of rare birds such as spoon-billed sandpipers.
On 5 July 2019, unesco's World Heritage Committee inscribed the Yellow (Bohai) Sea Migratory Bird Habitat (Phase I) on the World Heritage List, Xinhua News Agency and China News Network. In the first phase of the heritage site, Jiangsu Yancheng Tiaozi Ni Municipal Nature Reserve, Jiangsu Dongtai Tiaozi Wetland Protection Plot, and Jiangsu Dongtai High Mud Wetland Protection Plot are all located in or around the Tiaozi Ni Scenic Area.
According to the WeChat public account of the Tiaozi Mud Scenic Area, there are only more than 600 critically endangered species spoon-billed sandpipers in the world. On September 22 this year, 1,164 rare species of small blue-footed sandpipers were monitored in dongtai tiaozi wetland. It was once widely believed that the global population of the little blue-footed sandpiper did not exceed 1,000.
According to the map published on the UNESCO website, most of the Tiaozi Ni Scenic Area is located in the buffer area of the World Heritage Site, and the eastern part of the buffer zone is close to the Tiaozi Ni World Heritage Site Reserve.
Red Star News reporters read on the "China Yellow (Bohai) Sea Migratory Bird Habitat (Phase I)" page of the UNESCO website that the "Conservation and Management Requirements" in the entry pointed out that the areas used for tourism near natural heritage reserves need to be separated from the protected areas, and specific measures should be taken to ensure that the boundaries of the protected areas are above the seawater climactic line, while restoring a wider and high-quality ecosystem to support the protection of the core habitats within the heritage sites.
Article 18 of the Regulations on the Protection of Yellow Sea Wetlands in Yancheng City (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations"), issued by the Yancheng Natural Resources and Planning Bureau and effective since September 1, 2019, stipulates that the people's governments of cities and counties (cities and districts) shall set up protection boundary markers for the Yellow Sea wetlands included in the Yellow Sea Wetland Directory, and the boundary markers shall indicate the name of the wetlands, the level of protection, the scope of protection, the management units and their contact information. No organization or individual may destroy, alter or move the boundary markers for the protection of the Yellow Sea wetlands without authorization.
Article 20 of the Regulations mentions that, except as otherwise provided by laws and regulations, it is forbidden to introduce alien species or release animals, hunt wild animals, pick up bird eggs or destroy wild nests within the protection area of important wetlands included in the Yellow Sea Wetland List.
Scenic Reply:
It is forbidden to go down to the beach to catch the sea, and there is no transformation plan for scenic spots
In response to the situation reflected by netizens, the Red Star News reporter called the Tiaozi Mud Scenic Area Visitor Center. The staff of the operation department of the Tiaozi Ni Scenic Area confirmed to the Red Star News reporter that the "bird watching area" in the scenic spot is located within the high tide line of the seawater, and a large number of birds will forage in this area at high tide, which belongs to the scope of the protected area according to regulations. The protected area has always prohibited tourists from going down to the beach; the bird watching area allows ordinary tourists to watch birds through cameras, telescopes and other equipment on the edge of the area, and does not allow behaviors such as catching sea and shellfish on the beach, and there is no plan to transform the protected area or bird watching area into a sea-catching recreation area.
The staff member said that the distance between the scenic parking lot No. 2 and the tide-watching area is about 400 meters, and there is a walking trail. Large warning signs were erected on the beach near the trail, but were later swept away by the rising tides. Therefore, the scenic spot welded the "please do not go to the beach" sign on the embankment, but because it was not as eye-catching as before, it was ignored by many tourists. Usually, there are no large numbers of tourists on the beach. During the National Day, the flow of people in the scenic spot surged, and many tourists went directly down the beach from the side of the trail. "If a large number of people come over, sometimes they can't pull back." The person in charge said, "The surge in the number of tourists is really not something we planned. ”
The iron fence and stone slope next to the tide viewing area on the east side of the scenic spot
The person in charge said that the "glass house" pointed out by netizens is a multi-functional hall and café in the tide-watching area. About a year ago, the scenic spot has found that birds will hit the reflective glass, and then use the roller shutter enclosure device to deal with the reflection problem of the glass to prevent birds from hitting, "Now there is no problem." The person in charge told The Red Star News reporter.
Netizen Xiaomei often travels in the Tiaozi Ni Nature Reserve and has worked with professors from Beijing Forestry University to carry out wetland and bird science popularization work in the local area. Xiaomei told the Red Star News reporter: "The protected area of the tiaozi mud wetland is about 858 square kilometers, and the scope that allows tourists to enter and experience is controlled at about 5 square kilometers, accounting for less than 1% of the total area." And the beach for tourists to experience has no buildings, and the time for tourists to go down to the beach is as far as possible to control 1 hour after the birds are foraging. ”
Xiaomei said that the influx of tourists into the beach during the National Day is not common in normal times, "Usually there are very few people, and the tide time is different every day, some tourists can't go down to the beach after coming, and the scenery will go away." There is a lower beach entrance in the scenic area, and there are security guards on the beach to prevent tourists from going too far or crossing the line. ”
A schematic diagram drawn by Xiaomei, on the right side of the blue line, is a more strictly managed area, which is forbidden to enter tourists
According to Xiaomei's description, on the east side of the Tiaozi Ni Scenic Area, there is a narrow area that runs from north to south. The area has a chain of protection on the side close to the inland, and beneath the chain is a slope of stones, which is difficult for pedestrians to enter and more strictly managed. The reserve has two gates, north and south, and is guarded by security guards. Only photographers or researchers can enter after presenting relevant documents or reporting to the scenic spot management department.
Xiaomei recalled that she did not see warning signs or cordons between the bird watching area and the deeper nature reserve. However, she believes that the method of setting up warning signs, cordons or gates on the beaches where seawater washes frequently may not be feasible. In addition, the mud mud flats are very slippery and difficult to walk, and the average tourist may not have enough physical strength to walk to the places where birds inhabit the depths of the reserve. "I used to follow a professor from Beijing Forestry University down the beach to count the birds in the reserve, and before dawn I had to go down the beach, and it took me 2 hours to walk about 300 meters." Xiaomei said.
Official Response:
It has not been noted that it should be prohibited if it exists
On October 11, a Red Star News reporter called the Yancheng Wetland and World Natural Heritage Conservation and Management Center. The staff told reporters that according to the principles of the Convention on Natural Heritage Sites, the protection measures for heritage sites also emphasize promoting the harmonious interaction between people and nature without affecting the natural environment, and popularizing environmental protection concepts and scientific knowledge to the public. Therefore, certain activities such as tourism, science and education are allowed to be carried out in the buffer zone.
The staff believes that after the establishment of the scenic spot, the supervision of the protected area has been relatively strict, prohibiting tourists from entering the core area of the protection, and there is no trend of relaxing supervision and opening up the core area for tourism. However, tourists often call the mayor's hotline to complain that tourists are not allowed to enter the beach. Therefore, taking into account the wishes of the people, the government agreed to open a limited area of the scenic spot for tourists to play on the beach. For the behavior of bird watching enthusiasts mentioning the fishing of yachts in the "10,000 acres" area, the staff said that they had not noticed such phenomena, but if they existed, they should be prohibited.
For the situation that occurred during the National Day, the staff said that considering that the scenic spots and protected areas have not been established for a long time and lack relevant experience, it is difficult to achieve perfection in management. Government departments will work together with scenic spots to make management more scientific and reasonable.
Expert Opinion:
Protected areas should be managed in strict compliance with existing regulations
Professor Ma Zhijun, associate professor of the School of Life Sciences of Fudan University and an expert in bird ecology, stressed in an interview with Red Star News that the management and planning of nature reserves should strictly abide by the provisions of relevant regulations and manage different areas at different levels according to requirements. The behavior of tourists picking up beach creatures in the bird foraging area may conflict with bird activities, but it is also necessary to consider the scale and quantity of tourists to pick up, and after on-site investigation, specific problems can be analyzed specifically to reach a conclusion.
Professor Zhang Zhengwang, a professor at the School of Life Sciences of Beijing Normal University and a long-time professor of ornithology and conservation biology, told Red Star News that spoon-billed sandpipers are usually more afraid of people. If tourists are too close to their feeding and habitat areas, they may interfere with their activities. It is inappropriate to hold events that generate a loud volume near the protected area, and to release drones is inappropriate and should be avoided as much as possible.
Bird-Seeker, a bird watching enthusiast@ Xing Xiaotian, believes that tourism activities for the purpose of popular science are worth advocating, and hopes that the government can cooperate with scientific researchers and environmental protection organizations to abandon the sea that will affect the ecological environment near the protected area, carry out ecological education activities, and become a window for citizens to understand nature and love nature. Most of the people who rush to the sea want to be close to nature but are not lawless, and government guidance is particularly important.
Afterwards, Oyama commented on the matter, saying that he hoped to have more rational discussions and see that man and nature can coexist in harmony.
Red Star News reporter Chen Qingyuan intern Wang Yucheng
Edited by Pan Li
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