China's wetlands are poorly protected

Beijing, Feb 2 (IANS) Nearly 80 percent of China's wetlands are shrinking due to poor protection, experts said Thursday.

The World Wetlands Day was observed Feb 2.

The country's natural wetland reserves have decreased by over 8,000 sq km over the past three decades, a study by the Institute of Remote Sensing Applications said Thursday.

Poorly-protected wetland areas are mainly located in west and southwest China, some coastal regions, as well as along the Yangtze river, Xinhua reported.

Only 15 percent of the wetlands found along the Songhuajiang river in northeast China's Jilin province are well protected.

The study called for wetland protection legislation, remote-sensing supervision and industrial restructuring in areas near the reserves.

Currently, China has 614 natural wetland reserves.

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