Dongting Lake, located on the East Asia-Australasia Flyway, has entered the best season for birdwatching. The 12th China Dongting Lake Bird-Watching Festival will be held in Yueyang on December 9, according to a press conference held on November 23. The festival will adopt a new model of "Internet plus bird watching" for the first time and bring a visual feast to global viewers.

The number of teams participating in this year's bird-watching competition increases from 24 to 30. The competition will extend from 12 hours to 24 hours, with nighttime viewing added. Various activities will be held to encourage more people to participate in birdwatching and bird protection, including a bird-watching competition; field visits to wetlands; observing birds via videos; educational activities for people to get closer to nature; and, photo and writing competitions.

Efforts have been made to ensure the smooth holding of the festival. A 5-km section of the Bird-Watching Avenue near Caisang Lake have been renovated. Large parking lots have been built in the starting and finishing points of the bird watching route. Seven birdwatching towers located in big and small west lakes have been repaired. A 400-meter-long birdwatching corridor has been rebuilt, displaying more than 100 pictures of birds. A wildlife monitoring system with one machine room and 50 high definition cameras has been set up.

Dongting Lake is an internationally important wetland and an important wintering site for international birds, and plays an irreplaceable role in global biodiversity conservation. The data show that there are 873 species of vascular plants and 531 species of vertebrates in the area of the Dongting Lake, including 361 species of birds, accounting for one-third of the national species. There are 298,000 wintering migratory birds. The number of rare and endangered animals such as elk, black stork, and oriental white stork has increased significantly, and finless porpoises, white cranes, and Baer's pochard have been frequently spotted.  

In 2002, the Hunan Provincial Forestry Department and the Yueyang government jointly held the first Dongting Lake Bird-Watching Festival. So far, the festival has been held for 11 consecutive years. A bird and wetland protection carrier, led by the government and coordinated by departments with public publication, has been built. The festival has been developed into a recognizable brand in Hunan and even in national eco-culture festivals. It won support from international organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Global Environment Facility and the World Wide Fund for Nature. More than 200 teams from over 30 countries and regions have taken part in bird-watching competitions, with more than one million participants.  

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Xiao Juan

Chinese source: Voice of Hunan

Note:

The festivel will be held between Feb. 17 and 20, 2023, according to the organizing committee. (Updated on Feb. 2, 2023)