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Poyang Lake Basin

Geographic Location

Poyang Lake Basin is situated between 28° 11’ – 29° 1’ N longitude and 115° 49’ – 116° 46’ E latitude. It varies from 12-18 m above sea level, on the south shore of the Yangtze River, in the northern part of Jiangxi Province.

Overview

Poyang Lake Basin is composed of the largest fresh water lakes in a near-natural state in China, marshes, wet grassland and alluvial floodplains. The site has incredible diversity of both flora and fauna, hosting over 100,000 waterbirds including several endangered species, such as the Siberian, Hooded and Eurasian Cranes, Great Bustards, White Storks, Chinese Merganser, and theLesser White-fronted Goose. The entire wetland area of the Poyang Lake Basin covers ~390,000 ha.

Up to 98% of the world population of the Siberian Crane winters in Poyang Lake Basin; other endangered species, such as White-naped Crane, Hooded Crane, Oriental White Stork, and numerous waterbirds also use the lake as their main wintering ground. The site has a rich fish fauna that provide adequate food resource for waterbirds. The average annual rainfall is 1426mm, with the highest amount of precipitation occurring from April to June (47.4% of annual rainfall).

Conservation Status

Different portions of the basin have varying protection status. Poyang National Nature Reserve Part comprises approximately 5% of the total area of the basin, but there are several Provincial Level nature reserves within the basin and project area: Nanjishan PNR, Duchang PNR and Qinglanhu PNR.

Over-fishing and over-grazing seriously affect food resources and breeding and roosting habitats for waterbirds as well as the entire wetland ecosystem. Illegal poaching affects bird populations, farming activities lead to reduction of the available habitat for the Siberian Crane and other migratory birds, human population pressure and poor education add to the negative impact on the migratory birds and their habitats, making difficult wildlife protection and management activities. The effects of the Three Gorge Dam on the hydrology and ecology of the lake system are not clear at present, but an applied research programme and long-term monitoring will be carried out at this site to assess impacts and recommend mitigation measures, if required.

SCWP Objectives

The project aims to extend the network of protected areas within Poyang Lake Basin, including the upgrading of Nanjisan Provincial NR to a national level reserve, and establishment of new nature reserves within the basin by the end of the project period. Work is also being conducted to increase the network of County-level Protection Stations in order to improve monitoring and management outside the existing protected areas. The holistic management of the lake basin will be developed through the completion of a Master Plan for the lake basin, supported by a basin level management committee and centralized data stored in a GIS. Improved waterbird monitoring capacity and regular surveys will upgrade information on the conservation values. Following on the experience of the WWF’s Living Yangtze Project, the SCWP will facilitate community development pilot projects in association with a wetland restoration project (to restore former farmlands back to wetland). The ecological goals of the project are to stabilize or increase the populations of cranes and other large waterbirds within Poyang Lake Basin through appropriate management measures, and to clarify the relationships between water levels, waterbird food plants and waterbird distribution as an aid to management.

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Last update: March 23, 2005.

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