ShandongProvince, east China, has invested 80 million yuan (US$10 million) in protecting local wetland resources in the past more than ten years, according to the provincial forestry authorities.

The money was mainly used in the establishment of 14 wetland nature reserves, including the state-level Yellow River delta nature reserve, covering a total area of 620,000 hectares, according to the Shandong Provincial Forestry Bureau.

Shandong boasts 1.78 million hectares of wetlands, accounting for 11.4 percent of the province's land space.

The province also listed 50 species of water birds living in wetlands under provincial top protection. The state-level Yellow River delta nature reserve alone now is home to 283 species of wild birds.

China has 66 million hectares of wetlands, the most in Asia and fourth-largest in the world.

The country also has 473 wetlands nature reserves and has put 45 percent of its total natural wetlands under effective protection.

(Xinhua News Agency January 8, 2007)