Case Studies

• As part of the programme, a 400 hectare (1,000 acre) pilot project has been set up on Honghu Lake, a designated nature reserve in Hubei Province, central China. Lakes like Honghu have suffered severe water quality problems over the years due to the construction of flood gates, which have restricted the natural flow of water from the Yangtze river and caused a build-up of pollutants. WWF has worked in partnership with the local community and local government to remove these gates and to help the fishermen learn to work in a sustainable manner. In addition to the flood gates, fishermen also used to mark out their own fishing areas with fishing poles and nets, which contributed to causing the once plentiful fish supply to disappear.
• One fisherman, Zhang Shengyuan tried hunting birds instead but the increase in hunting combined with the pollution of the lake meant that birds no longer migrated to Honghu Lake. The Yangtze Programme worked with the government to remove the restricting fishing fences from the lake, helping to restore the natural ecosystem. This led to the return of 34 bird species, including the Oriental White Stork which has been absent for 20 years, and a trebling of local farmers' livelihoods.
• The success of this project so far has caused the Hubei provincial government to commit US$9.3 million to the protection of Honghu Lake and to establish the Honghu Lake Wetland Nature Reserve Administrative Bureau.
• Honghu Lake has also received the Living Lakes Best Conservation Practice Award during the 11th International Living Lakes Conference, held in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province in 2006.
  
  The International Living Lakes Conference provides a platform for discussion and experience-sharing on many topics pertaining to lake conservation and management including the management of economic activities in and around lakes. The theme for 2006 was Sustainable Lake Management: Balancing Agriculture and Lake Protection.
  
  Restoration of the lake's wetland eco-system has been attributed particularly to the WWF-HSBC Yangtze Programme.

• There have also been improvements at Hubei Province's Lake Zhangdu. WWF has encouraged the government to open the lake's tightly-controlled dykes to restore the natural processes. The dyke gates were opened in June 2005 for the first time in many years and WWF and its partners simultaneously introduced fish fry into the river in an effort to regenerate populations. Nearly one million local residents rely on fishing for their livelihoods. For this reason, it is very important to address the issue of falling fish stocks. Although opening flood gates in an area renowned for its catastrophic floods is a sensitive issue, local government has now accepted that opening them for a limited period during the fish breeding season can help with the migratory flow of fish, allowing them to breed upstream in the Yangtze and for the young fry to return to the lake where they can grow to maturity. WWF experts are continuing to work with the local community to monitor the lake's water level and biodiversity and to help inform the Chinese government; these efforts will help to encourage the reconnection of more isolated lakes in the future.
• Lin Chunming and his fellow fishermen used to pour chemical fertilizer into the lake in order to help the fish grow bigger; however, this polluted the water until fish could no longer survive. Experts from the Yangtze Programme worked with Lin and his colleagues to help them reduce the pollution in the lake by using eco-friendly fertilizer. They also taught the fishermen how to plant edible bamboo to augment their income. In just two years, fishery income doubled and farming income quadrupled. The water quality in Zhangdu Lake improved and fish production increased by 17%; nine fish species have also returned to the lake. While the farmers are pleased by the economic results of these environmental initiatives, they also now realise the importance of taking care of the environment for its own sake as well as the fact that it increases the quality of life in their small village.

• The Baiji Dolphin is a freshwater dolphin and only lives in the Yangtze River; it is often nicknamed 'the goddess of the Yangtze'. Some estimates put the total number of surviving Baijis as low as 13 individuals. The Yangtze Programme recognises that the two main threats to the species are poor water quality and human interference. The Yangtze Programme has worked with the local government and citizens to increase the water quality, create reserves for the creatures, and relocate farmers so that they are no longer threatening the species' habitat.
  
  
  © Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• The David's Deer species has deteriorated even more than the Baiji Dolphin and now only exists in captivity; in fact, the last deer in China were eaten in the early 20th century. Some breeding stock was returned from the UK in the 1980s to try to re-establish a population on a reserve in China. However, even this reserve has recently been threatened by increased commercial farming and fishery in the area. The Yangtze Programme has helped to protect and enlarge this reserve for the deer.

The Wetland Ambassador Action (WAA) programme was funded as part of the WWF-HSBC Yangtze Programme to enhance university students’ knowledge on environmental protection and to allow them to share this knowledge and spread a message of sustainable development and wise use of wetlands to the wider community.

WAA was launched in 2001 by WWF China, the State Forestry Administration and China Youth Daily and HSBC has supported it since 2003. Initially located in the Yangtze river basin, it has been expanded to the Yellow, Hei Longjiang, Lan Cangjiang and Zhujiang river basins.

University students can apply to the programme with a wetland-related community initiative that they would like to conduct. Funds are supplied by HSBC and over 1,500 students and teachers have conducted programmes since 2001, reaching millions of people in 20 provinces.

An example of one community project

The initial two year project developed into a long-term relationship which is still ongoing; HSBC has extended its support to the programme until 2009. Over 100 training courses have been run, attended by more than 1,600 wetland management and government officials from Hong Kong and mainland China as well as Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, and other surrounding countries. The programme has grown in popularity and has led to cooperation between wetland centres.

• Wetland Management Training Course – Aimed at nature reserve staff, these eight-day courses are held about 12 times a year, each catering to a maximum of 11 participants.
• Wetland Conservation Study Tour – Aimed at government officials, these courses last from 1-5 days and are for a maximum of 11 participants. Three to five courses are held per year.
  • The courses focus on various topics to enhance the appreciation of the value of the wetlands and the importance of preserving them. These include:
    • Classification of wetlands and their characteristics;
    • Functioning and value of wetlands;
    • Wetland survey techniques and report writing;
    • Environmental impact assessment studies and discussions;
    • Education/public awareness programmes for students and the general public.
    
    The topics are approached through lectures, discussions and site visits, among other techniques, and participants are encouraged to apply their learnings when they return to their own nature reserve or job.
  • The training programme was extended in 2000 to enable small-scale education and conservation projects to take place at the reserves themselves. Small grants are available for these projects and between 2000 and 2003, 18 projects were approved and carried out.

The project was launched with a distribution of over 5,000 nature-themed calendars and a visit by 30 HSBC staff members to the reserve. The project aimed to provide staff training and allow for data collection at the reserve as well as to promote the economic value of the wetlands and sustainable development in general. After reviewing the success of this pilot project, HSBC has made a further five-year commitment to expand this programme.

• The two areas involved are the Guangdong Haifeng Gongping Daihu Provincial Nature Reserve (Haifeng Nature Reserve) and the Zhangjiang Estuary National Mangrove Nature Reserve in Fujian Province. These two wetland areas were chosen as they provide important stopovers on the migratory paths of over 50 million waterbirds from over 250 different populations. The Zhangjian National Mangrove Nature Reserve project will be launched at a later date.
• Aims of the project at Haifeng Nature Reserve include:
  • Demonstrating wise use of wetlands through co-management with local fishermen;
  • Assisting the reserve to become a Ramsar site;
  • Raising public awareness through a series of educational and community awareness programmes.

WWF also hopes to assist the Haifeng Nature Reserve in creating a five-year management plan.