Make China a safe station for migrant birds

Protecting migrant birds is not only the job of the forestry authorities but also the responsibilities of the agricultural and industrial departments as well as all of society.

Farmers should not use highly poisonous pesticides near where the birds live. Meanwhile, residents should not hunt or eat the birds.

In the wetlands of Tianjin, large numbers of white storks have been found dead from poison. Local police collected clues, and NGOs are actively appealing to society to protect the wetlands environment and suggest that the wetlands should be earmarked as a national natural reserve.

The 40,000-hectare wetlands have only four people from the forestry department as patrol guards. Plus, the local underground markets for wild birds are prosperous.

But local law enforcement departments did not know about the situation, as one policeman said in an interview: “I have been here for years, and it is the first time I knew the white storks live here.”

Obviously, the absence of supervision and protection is the root cause of the tragedy. The forestry departments should be blamed for the dead birds, although they took some action, after the accident was exposed by the media, to strengthen protection and raise the public’s awareness.

Many of China’s natural reserves are separated from each other like lonely islands surrounded by cities, villages and farmlands. It is very difficult to ensure the migrant birds have save journeys from one place to another.

Besides, Chinese laws stipulate that a case can be put on record only when a suspect kills more than 20 migrant birds. Such loose laws, not enforced well to begin with, cannot effectively protect the migrant birds.

The just-concluded 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China highlights the construction of ecological civilization. The dead birds remind us that it needs all of society’s joint efforts and concerns to make China a safe station for migrant birds.

Translated from Beijing News DailyBy Li Yang