First Conservation Station on China's Biggest Volcanic IslandA conservation station was recently set up on China's biggest volcanic island, Weizhou island, to regulate sustainable resources development.The 25-square kilometer tourist island is 36 nautical miles off Beihai, a scenic port city in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region facing southern China's Beibu Gulf. It is surrounded by a large area of coral reef, the closest of such resources to the country's continental shelf. However, the island faces a disastrous future due to unscientific oil and gas exploration. A two million-ton oil and gas refinery was built on Weizhou in 1998, which not only polluted the seawater, but also dried up over 300 freshwater wells on the island. The Beihai Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau sent environmental staff to correct the problem through the operation of the conservation station. The station's key functions are environmental monitoring, pollution control and sewage fee collection. |
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