Editor's note: On October 12, 2021, Xi Jinping mentioned in his keynote speech at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity leaders' summit that "all things have their own harmony and survival, and each has its own nourishment." "Biodiversity makes the earth full of life and is the foundation of human survival and development. Protecting biodiversity contributes to the preservation of the earth's home and promotes the sustainable development of mankind.
Jiangxi is one of the first three provinces listed as a national ecological civilization pilot zone, and has always adhered to the implementation of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and unswervingly followed the path of ecological priority and green development. Porpoises formed a group to swim in the Ganjiang River, white cranes danced on the shores of Poyang Lake, "the most mysterious bird" appeared in De'an, and Pengze residents "pushed the window to see deer"... These rare species have frequently appeared in Jiangxi, which has become an important witness to the solid results of Jiangxi's biodiversity conservation work and the continuous promotion of the construction of high-quality ecological civilization.
Dajiang News launched a special column of "Magical Species in Jiangxi" to decode the wisdom of Jiangxi in biodiversity conservation and tell the story of Jiangxi's green development. Today, we specially launched "Magical Species in Jiangxi 丨 More than 96% of the world's white cranes winter in Poyang Lake", telling the story of the global white crane "falling in love" with Poyang Lake. (Planner: Zhang Xuhong, Li Wei Executive Planner: Lai Min, Chen Ting, Mao Ping)
On September 11, when the staff of the Duchang Conservation and Monitoring Station of the Poyang Lake National Nature Reserve Management Bureau in Jiangxi Province carried out daily patrol and monitoring, they were pleasantly surprised to see four wintering white spoonbills. This year's first wintering white spoonbills arrived at Poyang Lake one day earlier than last year. The arrival of the white spoonbill has opened the prelude to the wintering of migratory birds in Poyang Lake, marking that Poyang Lake is about to enter the winter season of migratory birds, and will gradually usher in various types of wintering migratory birds.
In 2020, there are 63 species of wintering migratory birds monitored in Poyang Lake, 680,000 of which there are more than 4,000 "provincial birds" white cranes in Jiangxi, and more than 96% of the world's white cranes winter in Poyang Lake.
A fairy-like white crane
"The crane sings in Jiugao, and the sound is in the wild." The white crane has an elegant posture and a loud voice, and has been endowed with noble and auspicious imagery since ancient times.
Jiangxi Daily reporter Zhu Wenbiao photographed
The white crane is a critically endangered species and is a "living fossil" that has lived on Earth for 60 million years. White crane body feathers are white, primary flight feathers are black, and secondary and tertiary flight feathers are white. The white crane looks almost completely white when it does not spread its wings, and its black tip can only be seen when it spreads its wings when flying.
White cranes are migratory birds, and by autumn and spring, large groups of migratory white cranes originally had three migration routes in the east, middle and west, and now the two migration routes in the central and western regions have been almost lost. The white cranes that winter in Poyang Lake belong to the eastern migration route, and the white cranes stay in Poyang Lake for up to 5 months a year.
The poyang lake white crane protection case was included in the list of "global typical cases"
Poyang Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China, known as the "breathing lake", due to the different water levels throughout the year, the area of the abundant water period reaches more than 4600 square kilometers, and the dry period is only 200 to 300 square kilometers.
Poyang Lake is an internationally important wetland and the largest wintering migratory bird habitat in Asia. The good wetland ecosystem and biodiversity of Poyang Lake provide a suitable habitat environment and abundant food supply for the white crane.
At the beginning of 2020, the White Crane Conservation Community of Liyuzhou (Five Star Farm) in Poyang Lake expanded the original 300 mu of lotus field to 1045 mu, creating a better wintering foraging environment for white cranes.
Jiangxi Daily reporter Yan Ping photographed
The case of "Exploration and Practice of White Crane Conservation in Poyang Lake" stood out from 258 declared cases from 26 countries around the world and was selected into the list of "100+ Global Typical Cases of Biodiversity".
At 8 o'clock on October 9 this year, the water level of Poyang Lake Hukou Station was 15.88 meters, and as the water level continued to drop, the sons and daughters of Ganpo waited for the return of the white crane as scheduled.