Asian birds in trouble

by Jeanny Wang
China Biodiversity Network

As spring arrives in the highlands of southwest China, and the remaining flocks of Oriental white storks and black-necked cranes depart for their breeding grounds in southern Russia and in Tibet, a sad question comes to mind. Will any of these birds be coming back next winter?

The answer is more dubious each year. There are fewer than a thousand Oriental white storks (Ciconia boyciana) left in the world. They breed solely in the Amur River basin along the Chinese-Russian border, and winter in the greater Yangtze River area in the wetlands of Dongting and Boyang Lakes.

Experts estimate that only 3000 to 5000 black-necked cranes (Grus nigricolis) remain, one of nine species of crane that reside in China. These regal birds, quite unusual-looking with their jet-black heads, survive exclusively on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, in Bhutan, Tibet, and in Qinghai, Gansu, Yunnan, and Guizhou provinces.

These birds hold great cultural significance. The heavenly cranes, or xianhe, are revered in paintings, poems, and idioms, and are ancient symbols of good fortune and longevity. Nevertheless, their numbers continue to decline, especially as the economic boom spreads westward across China. They are still poached or killed as pests, even where their protected status is known and accepted. Just when wintering populations were thought to have stabilized in Zhaotong County in northeast Yunnan, 25 black-necked cranes were found dead last year from poisoning.

Cranes and storks are also threatened by the rapid disappearance of their wetland habitats. Marshy meadows are drained for agriculture. Dikes and reservoirs are built on critical wintering habitat. Reeds that serve as nesting materials are harvested for fodder or papermaking. And pesticides are applied so pervasively that many birds and rodents perish or lose much of their reproductive capacity.

Suitable habitat must be set aside and protected to ensure the survival of these birds and other wildlife. Protecting wetlands and watersheds is critical for minimizing the threat of erosion or flooding, as well. Fortunately, some national, provincial, and county-level reserves have been set up in China and in southern Russia, where the Oriental white stork and some crane species breed.

But even protected areas are still heavily farmed, and the cranes and storks must feed on meager crop residues left in the winter fields. Logging and draining affect the health of adjacent wetlands. Moreover, public parklands are severely underfunded and understaffed. Park rangers and staff have received little formal training in wildlife protection or water management, and they are usually in no position to deter poachers or land developers from activities within the reserves.

Problems inside and outside these reserves affect more than just the storks and cranes. Other threatened species include the Mongolian gazelle in northern China, and the Siberian tiger and the Amur leopard on the Chinese-Russian border. Populations of Asian elephants along the tropical southern border are also threatened, as are falcons, used for hunting in Xingjiang and Pakistan. The rare Tibetan antelope is poached at an alarming rate to produce valuable shatoosh shawls for markets.

In the famous "bird-killing mountains" in Weishan, Yunnan province, naturalists estimate that several million migratory birds are killed every autumn. Hunters attract them with firelight on foggy nights and kill them with bamboo rods, or capture them with nets mounted on poles or trees. Because over 70 percent of China's bird species have been recorded in Yunnan, along this narrow point in the migration corridor, such a practice is a serious threat to much of the bird life of Asia.

What can be done?
Many local park officials, journalists, teachers, scientists, and other citizens are concerned about the disappearance of wild birds and birdlands in China. Activists like photographer Xi Zhinong and writer Wen Bo are creating and supporting new environmental groups such as Action for Green, Green Camp, and Friends of Nature. Their goal is to educate local people while promoting wildlife conservation as a way of life.

There are also international groups - headed by the International Crane Foundation, Wetlands International, the Socio-Ecological Union (SEU), and Earth Island Institute - providing support to these local citizens and groups. Recent collaborative efforts find Earth Island, the SEU, and local Chinese groups developing special training programs for a corps of wetlands managers from Russia and China. By year's end, many park specialists will be better informed and equipped to counter the tide of human mismanagement in the natural regions of northeast Asia.

Bringing together representatives from China and Russia will help local specialists develop and implement long-term action plans for protecting habitat for storks and cranes. However, international and local environmentalists realize that they must rely on the support of the local public. The people of China and Russia will need to step forward to protect these and other unique birds.

This October, Earth Island will lead a group of biologists from the Smithsonian Institution and rural appraisal specialists from Australia to investigate the motivations for, as well as the sustainability of, Weishan bird harvesting practices. Collective effort of local and international citizens and policy-makers will be critical in saving Chinese wildlife and support local environmentalists.

Jeanny Wang is director of the China Biodiversity Network

For more information, please write the China Biodiversity Network, 300 Broadway, Suite 28, San Francisco, CA 94133 or by e-mail <tadpole@igc.org> or check the new CBN website at <http://www.earthisland.org/cbn>.