NE China's Liaoning makes significant progress in protecting migratory bird sanctuaries

Flocks of birds fly over the Yalu River estuary in Dandong, northeast China's Liaoning Province. (Photo/Shao Yeping)

Northeast China's Liaoning Province has made significant progress in protecting migratory bird sanctuaries, with its efforts gaining international recognition.

In July, the Changshan Archipelago migratory bird sanctuary in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, was added to the UNESCO World Natural Heritage List.

This brings the number of World Natural Heritage sites in Liaoning to three: the Yalu River estuary in Dandong, Snake Island-Laotieshan in Dalian, and the Changshan Archipelago in Dalian, all part of the Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China. The three sites form a connected land-sea ecological corridor stretching more than 2,200 kilometers along the coastline.

Yalu River estuary: a critical stopover for bar-tailed godwits

Each spring, from March to May, tens of thousands of shorebirds gather on the mudflats near Donggang, Dandong. At times, they soar into the air and form waves of birds that stretch for nearly 1 kilometer, creating a spectacular sight.

In recent years, growing numbers of birdwatchers have traveled from afar to see the spectacle, boosting local B&Bs and restaurants, while rows of telescopes set up along the mudflats have become a distinctive sight in Dandong.

The estuary is one of the most important stopover sites for shorebirds along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, and an essential refueling stop before they continue their spring migration, said Sui Yanzuo, deputy director of the management center of the Yalu River Estuary Wetland National Nature Reserve in Dandong.

The estuary's star species is the bar-tailed godwit, a shorebird capable of extraordinary nonstop flights; in 2007, a tagged bird known as "E7" flew more than 10,000 kilometers from New Zealand to Dandong in eight days without stopping to eat or drink. Godwits arrive weighing around 200 grams and can nearly triple their body weight after weeks of feeding before continuing north to breed.

Since 2016, Dandong has taken a series of measures — including issuing management regulations for the reserve, cracking down on pollution and poaching, restoring farmland and aquaculture areas to wetlands, and launching an initiative to clean up and restore coastal waters. Years of sustained effort have brought a marked improvement in the estuary's ecology. It recorded 349,000 shorebirds this spring, and more than 108,000 bar-tailed godwits were recorded in the spring of 2025. It has documented 324 bird species overall, up from 250 in 2010.

A golden eagle flies over the Liaoning Snake Island-Laotieshan National Nature Reserve in northeast China's Liaoning Province. (Photo courtesy of the Liaoning Snake Island-Laotie Mountain National Nature Reserve)

The site has also built an international research partnership. In 2004, it became China's first international sister reserve, pairing with New Zealand's Miranda Reserve, with researchers tracking godwits fitted with bands and colored leg flags. The two sites have exchanged visits seven times and carried out joint monitoring efforts since, most recently renewing their memorandum of understanding in 2025. Researchers have since fitted 95 birds with satellite trackers and tagged 142 with flags across 10 shorebird species.

Snake Island-Laotieshan: a raptor migration hub

At the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula, Laotieshan, a vital stopover site for migratory birds along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, sees tens of millions of migratory birds pass through each year, and has recorded 385 bird species.

Protecting the site wasn't always easy — illegal trapping was once common, said Wang Xiaoping, deputy director of the Liaoning Snake Island-Laotieshan National Nature Reserve Administration, who has helped guard the area since 2001.

Thanks to joint bird-protection campaigns to crack down on poaching and the growth of cherry farming and rural tourism, illegal bird trapping has declined sharply in recent years. Sun Xigui, a local villager, said 1 mu (about 667 square meters) of cherry trees can bring in roughly 45,000 yuan (about $6,705.86) a year in gross income. Laotieshan has recorded no illegal poaching nets for several consecutive years since 2022.

A raptor rescue center opened in 2016 has treated more than 530 birds across 45 species, releasing over 300 back into the wild, according to Tang Lianyou, head of the center.

More and more people are now joining the effort to protect the birds. "Nowadays, when local residents come across an injured or sick bird, they call relevant departments on their own, and the bird eventually gets sent to us for examination and treatment," Tang said.

"The Laotieshan area has now recorded 45 species of raptors," said Yuan Hongru, head of the administration's science and education center.

In 2024, Laotieshan recorded more than 110,000 raptors, with 2025 monitoring counting 116,500 birds across 32 species — including three newly recorded local species.

In recent years, the reserve has built a digital management platform, installing more than 150 smart monitoring points that integrate acoustic recognition, AI analysis and thermal imaging technology. Researchers at the reserve have also fitted more than 160 medium- and large-sized birds with satellite trackers, gradually mapping out the migration routes and strategies of the raptor species commonly passing through Laotieshan.

In 2024, Dalian also established a judicial conservation base at the reserve and issued Liaoning's first judicial protection order for a World Natural Heritage site.

Changshan Archipelago: the world's largest breeding ground for Chinese egrets

Fantuozi of Guanglu Island, part of the Changshan Archipelago, is the world's largest natural breeding ground for Chinese egrets, a nationally protected species highly sensitive to water quality, vegetation and disturbance.

A Chinese egret (front, white) rests on a tree on Fantuozi of Guanglu Island, Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong)

"In the early years, people used to come ashore to collect eggs, and nearshore aquaculture polluted the mudflats. Fantuozi saw fewer than a hundred egrets all year round, and many of the islets were left bare, with little vegetation left for the birds to nest in," said Wang Piyu, deputy director of Changhai county's natural resources affairs service center.

The turnaround began with a comprehensive ecological restoration effort. Dalian phased out aquaculture operations to restore wetlands, rehabilitated island vegetation, and cleaned up coastal shorelines, while drawing a red line for ecological protection and closing core islands and reefs entirely during the breeding season. To address shrub die-off caused by acidic soil from bird droppings, the Changhai county government replanted more than 2,200 shrubs on Fantuozi.

A 2026 survey found more than 2,500 breeding adult Chinese egrets across Dalian's coastal islands, with over 3,000 new hatchlings this year, including more than 1,500 breeding adults on Fantuozi.

Monitoring the scattered islands is difficult, so four national reserves in the province have formed a joint survey team combining drone surveys, infrared monitoring and on-site patrols.