Photographer captures bird 'heaven' at Dajiu Lake

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It's just another day for photographer Zhang Jiuguo to explore the heaven of birds, as he gears up and gets ready to shoot.

Dajiu Lake in Shennongjia Nature Reserve is home to the largest and highest wetland in central China. It is believed to be a library that tells the story of water, mud and organisms for some 275,000 years.

Zhang Jiuguo is presenting a book of bird species to CGTN reporter. /CGTN Photo

"Over there, there's a great egret. There's a saying that egrets are the monitors of the climate. The bird only lives and breeds in places where the air is clean," Zhang said.

Located on the Asia-Oceania corridor, Dajiu Lake is one of the major stopping points for migratory birds.

In recent years, the improved environment in the area resulted in many visitors staying, Zhang said.

Wetland farmers relocated to a town nearby amid an ecological migration project. /Courtesy of Shennongjia TV

There are more than 130 bird species on record in the Dajiu Lake area. But Zhang said he had captured way more than that. Since birds feed in wetlands, the greater the variety of birds there, the higher the quality of the wetland.

"The over-consumption of water resources in the past has broken the ecosystem. Due to the lack of species, the food chain is now incomplete. We are using scientific methods to restore the aquatic ecological environment," said Zhang Zhiqi, deputy director of Shennongjia National Park's Scientific Academy.

The lake area reached a stage of closed management after relocating more than 400 local households outside the wetland to Dajiu Lake Town, some 20 kilometers away. The tourism industry brought Dajiu Lake Town some 25,000,000 U.S. dollars of income in 2018.

The Dajiu Lake wetland area has become a tourism site. /CGTN Photo

The national reserve has encouraged startups to set up homes. Entrepreneurs who have chosen to start businesses near the lake wanted to embed some humanity into nature.

"The scene at the national wetland park can never be found elsewhere. The clouds in the high-altitude area create a special atmosphere for new couples. I am sure it will leave them with romantic memories," said Chen Bin, owner of a local wedding photo studio.

The local government saw that the wetland is not only a treasure that maintains the ecosystem, but also a resource to develop the economy.

China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration wrote in a report that the direct and indirect value brought by the wetland ecosystem in Dajiu Lake is about 56,000,000 U.S. dollars per year.

To learn more about the Dajiu Lake Wetland Park, please watch CGTN's livestream at https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d6b544d7851545a326c4754/index.html

(Cover image via VCG.)

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at nature@cgtn.com.)