China to Put 280 Million Yuan in Marshland ProtectionThe Chinese government will put 280 million yuan (about US$33.6 million) over the next five years to protect the marshland in northeast China.The Songhua River Valleys in northeast China had 40,000 sq km of marsh land in the 1950s. However, it has been reduced by 70 percent in the past decades. To protect the marshland, the government requires local people to turn farmland into marshland step by step. Marshland is an extension area of land and water, including lakes, swamps and tidal flats. It is of great importance in storing water, preventing floods, adjusting climate and alleviating pollution, thus helping maintain a bio-variety and ecological balance. Marshland in northeast China's Heilongjian and Jilin provinces are among the most important in the world. |
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