The Yejihu Nature Reserve, located in the Yancun district of Beijing, has been included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Green List as one of the world's premier protected areas.
This achievement is the first for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the first for Beijing itself, gaining international recognition for the capital's ecological buffer zone.
Currently, the IUCN Green List registers over 120 protected sites worldwide, with 34 sites represented from China.
Yejihu, situated in the northwest of Yancun, is Beijing's largest and most diverse inland wetland, possessing a semi-natural character. It represents a complex ecosystem consisting of ponds and water bodies around the Guanting Reservoir.
When the reserve was established in 1997, the wetlands faced severe degradation, including drying up and frequent human interference such as scattered horse farms and enclosures along the shoreline.
After more than two decades of continuous restoration work, local authorities implemented coordinated measures that included restoring land from agricultural use, improving watercourse connectivity, building habitat islands, and revegetating.
According to officials, over 13 square kilometers of degraded wetlands have been restored, helping to revive the previously weakened ecosystem. This wetland is located on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway and serves as a crucial stopover point for migratory birds.
More than 100,000 migratory birds rest and refuel here every year. The number of registered bird species has increased from 189 at the time of the reserve's establishment to 374, accounting for 72 percent of all documented bird species in Beijing. Rare and endangered species, such as the Baer's sandpiper and the Siberian crane, are regularly observed.
The site was recognized as a wetland of international importance in 2023, and the new IUCN Green List designation is another major international acknowledgment of its conservation progress.
Zhang Bin, Secretary of the Party and Director of the Yancun District Protected Areas Administration, stated: 'Using the IUCN Green List accreditation as a new starting point, Yejihu will leverage this global platform, which covers protected areas in over 60 countries, to share stories of biodiversity conservation in Beijing.'
Zhang added: 'We will continue to develop our nature conservation and public awareness programs, deepen co-management with the community, and turn this international certification into an impetus for ecological protection and green development. The wetlands will continue to support the development of Yancun as an ecological demonstration zone and a protected area of Beijing, keeping its waters clean and its skies filled with birdsong.'