YEYAHU WETLAND EARNS A SPOT ON GREEN LIST

BEIJING, OCTOBER 26 /SRNA/ - The Yeyahu Wetland Nature Reserve, located in Beijing's Yanqing District, has been included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature /IUCN/ Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas.

Yeyahu is the first site in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, and the first in Beijing itself, to receive this recognition. With it, the importance of the Chinese capital's ecological areas for nature conservation has received further international confirmation.

The list is regarded as an international benchmark for high-quality management of protected areas and nature conservation.

The IUCN Green List currently includes more than 120 protected areas worldwide, among them 34 sites in China.

Yeyahu Wetland, situated in the northwest of Yanqing District, is the largest and most diverse inland wetland in the Beijing area to have retained its natural character. Its ecosystem encompasses floodplains and ponds around the Guanting Reservoir, China Media Group reported.

When the reserve was established in 1997, the wetland was severely degraded due to drainage and frequent human activity. Small horse farms and animal breeding facilities were also located along the shore.

Over more than two decades of restoration, local authorities implemented a series of coordinated measures, including returning farmland to wetland, connecting waterways, building islands that serve as wildlife habitats and restoring natural vegetation