On August 25, 2013, environmental volunteers conducted wetland surveys at Daze Lake, Xiangluzhou and Fengjiazhou in Wangcheng District, Changsha City. (File photo) Hunan Daily reporter Zhang Jingming photo
Hunan Daily reporter Zhou Yuegui
In the northern suburbs of Changsha, Daze Lake, the voices of people and cars are far away, and the atmosphere of the city is almost inaudible. Lotus leaf fields, lush calamus, wild diamonds and water hyacinths, frogs and waterhoppers... At the turn of spring and summer, this "wild pond" connected to the Xiang River is both quiet and vibrant.
"The most beautiful wetland in Changsha"
Birds are the "star inhabitants" of the Osawa Lake wetlands.
At full season, the pheasant is here again, walking lightly on the floating water hyacinth, and the black and white breeding feathers show its extraordinary beauty. A flock of egrets flew over, and several pond herons stood in the water somewhat cutely, and the long breeding feathers made them particularly handsome during the season. Black water chicken is the most dense, there is a family of five traveling collectively, parents are dutiful, greeting 3 children, wandering east and west on the surface of the water, you come and go, so all day longing, no production life and full companionship of the parent-child relationship, people yearn for it. Two floating gulls fly, a spotted fish dog skimming the water...
On the flat ground on the shore, there are native tree species such as trees, salt-skinned trees, and neem, and there is a noisy cry of white-cheeked grebe deep in the leaves. On the grass leaves by the pond, two bean maidens are quietly intercourse, the sound of insects sounds, summer has arrived...
This wetland, which is praised by environmental protection volunteers as "the most beautiful wetland in Changsha", is actually very small, with a core area of less than 100 acres of water surface, surrounded by a large area of farmland, vegetable fields, and ponds, which together form a wetland of about 800 acres.
However, this wetland is the closest to the main urban area of Changsha, with a wide variety of organisms and a good natural state. On these hundreds of acres of wetlands, there are more than 100 species of birds, including white cranes, cygnets, white-tailed harriers, kestrels and other nationally protected animals.
Protected "Noikeko"
Lake Osawa looks like a wild "pool", but human activity is not far away.
"Osawa Lake is a rare natural wetland in Changsha at present, and its ecological environment has always been facing the challenge of human activities." Zhou Canying, president of the Changsha Wildlife Conservation Association, said.
As early as 2013, environmental volunteers paid attention to Osawa Lake and continued to call for the end of construction in and around the Osawa Lake wetland. In recent years, there are still phenomena such as reclamation of lakes and the construction of farms around the wetland, and the discharge of domestic sewage and harmful substances such as fertilizers and pesticides also affects the water quality of Osawa Lake. Zhou Canying said that in the past two years of monitoring, the species and number of birds have decreased, such as the cygnet, which has not appeared for many years.
Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of various environmental organizations and bird lovers, Lake Osawa has received attention and protection.
"In the future, Osawa Lake will build a small wetland park, in addition to building a small number of supporting facilities, as far as possible to retain the current state of vegetation, create a water forest, restore the habitat of heron birds, create sufficient foraging camp nesting for birds, and try to present a natural wetland appearance." Zhang Jianlin, deputy director of the Forestry Bureau of Wangcheng District, said that Wangcheng District has carried out protective control regulations for the wetlands of Daze Lake, planned and controlled about 1,000 mu, strengthened wetland protection and restoration by returning farmland to forests and grasslands, strengthened wetland protection and restoration, strictly prohibited encroachment on wetlands and reduced wetland attributes.
The beautiful Osawa Lake, the quiet and fierce Osawa Lake, seems to be far away from human habitation and independent, but it is closely related to human beings.
【Small business card】
Lake Osawa
Daze Lake Wetland is located in Wangcheng Waterfront New Area of Changsha City, forming a narrow wetland belt with Xiangluzhou and Fengjiazhou in the Xiangjiang River, which belongs to the shallow water swamp wetland in its natural state. Located about 40 kilometers away from the Dongting Lake Wetland Nature Reserve, Lake Osawa is an important transit station for migratory birds, a wintering ground for winter migratory birds and a breeding ground for summer migratory birds in the bird migration channel along the Xiang River. According to the survey, there are about 135 species of birds in 15 orders and 45 families in Lake Osawa. Among them, there is 1 species of national first-class protected animal white crane, and the second level includes cygnet, small crane, white-tailed harrier, kestrel, black-crowned falcon, short-eared owl, magpie harrier, Amur falcon, spotted partridge, etc.; rare cotton.