The Fujian Minjiang River Estuary in China, the ecotone between marine and terrestrial biogeographical regions, has been placed on a tentative list for inclusion on the World Heritage List, according to the UNESCO World Heritage Center's official website.

It is China's second preparatory project for World Heritage Site designation submitted this year after the "Hainan Tropical Rainforest and traditional settlement of Li ethnics."

The Minjiang River estuary wetland is located in southeast China's Fujian Province and covers around 2,381 hectares of conservation area. Home to many bird species, the wetland was designated as a national nature reserve by China's State Council in 2013. Located on a major bird migration route between East Asia and Australia, the nature reserve is a stopover for over 50,000 waterfowl each year.

Lei Guangchun, a professor from Beijing Forestry University, believes that rare and endangered birds are a major advantage of the Minjiang estuary wetland. So far, 313 bird species have been observed in the Minjiang Estuary Wetland, and five are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Being on the tentative list is the first step toward inclusion on UNESCO's World Heritage List. It usually takes eight to 12 years to finish the whole procedure.

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