Return of the birds

Constant conflicts continued into the new century between the villagers and conservation officials in hard negotiations. "We eventually managed to find common ground. We fishermen didn't want the lake that our livelihoods rely on to be polluted, either," Tang said.

Since 2004, the reserve has inked deals with the fishermen's cooperatives to allow eco-friendly aquaculture activities. Fishermen agreed to refrain from using chemical fertilizers and illegal means like poisoning.

Since then, more fishermen and villagers have joined associations on environmental protection, said He Muying, a conservation personnel with the reserve, adding that they also plan to promote bird watching and eco-tourism as new sources of income for local fishermen.

The lake now is a picture of fast-recovering wetland ecology.

So far this winter, more than 30,000 migratory birds have arrived at West Dongting Lake, including 78 black storks under top-level State protection.

The Hengling Lake Nature Reserve, located on the southern bank of Dongting, has 55,000 migratory birds, already surpassing last winter's 40,000.

Zhang Xiaobo, a researcher with Beijing Forestry University who has been carrying out research in the reserve for years, praised the removal of poplars and implementation of fishing bans to improve the lake's biodiversity.

Monitoring over the years has pointed to the accelerated growth of submerged plants such as eelgrass and an increasing number of birds from white cranes to swans. "All these changes indicate that the ecology of West Dongting Lake is gradually recovering," Zhang said.

Xinhua