Archipelago balances conservation with growth

To date, 1,200 hectares of nearshore aquaculture have been reclaimed, and 89 kilometers of coastline restored and cleaned up, according to the management committee of the zone.

On the 10 inhabited islands, various low-carbon facilities have been implemented to reduce carbon emissions. For example, 22 stations have been built to support central heating, and all buses have been replaced with new energy-powered vehicles.

Additionally, 667 hectares of land have been planted with trees or reforested. The improved ecological system has contributed to an increase in the population of different species in the archipelago.

"This year, we saw a small group of yellow-breasted buntings on Beihuangcheng Island, which is very rare in other locations," said Feng Shuliang, a photographer who lives on the island.

The yellow-breasted bunting has been listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 2017.

Beihuangcheng is an important stopover for migrating birds, and in the past two years, Feng has photographed nearly 200 bird species on the island.

Thanks to years of effort in promoting high-quality development focused on green and low-carbon principles, the people of the Changdao islands, who have been dependent on marine farming for centuries, have achieved a balance between ecological conservation, and social and economic development.

The special ecosystem of the islands has attracted a growing number of tourists from all over the country. As of Aug 20, the number of tourists traveling to the island reached 1.67 million this year, a 31 percent increase compared with the same period in 2019, according to statistics provided by zone authorities.