The PRC’s Role in the Regional Flyway Initiative

Migratory birds, travelers in the sky. There are over 800 species of migratory birds in the People’s Republic of China, including more than 280 species of waterbirds and over 510 species of land birds.

They are a fundamental part of the web of life and are essential to maintaining ecological balance. Wetlands, forests, grasslands, and deserts are the homes they rely on for survival.

Each year, tens of millions of migratory birds journey across mountains, rivers, and oceans. A grand migration etched into nature’s rhythm. The PRC is one of the countries with the highest diversity of birds in the world, with vast terrain, complex topography, and varied climates. The PRC supports some of the richest natural environments in the world for birds.

The PRC sits at the intersection of four of the world’s nine major flyways. And with these important values comes a responsibility to protect birds and their habitats. Yet these breathtaking journeys grow ever more perilous. More extreme weather events and continuous human development are encroaching on bird habitats, leaving some of them under threat.

Global warming and the frequent occurrence of extreme weather have reduced the suitable habitat area for birds such as the Siberian Crane, leading to frequent food shortages. Consequently, large numbers of birds have moved to agricultural fields to search for food, which has triggered human-bird conflicts.

Habitats along all flyways continue to be lost or degraded from clearance, pollution, climate change and invasive alien species. Combined with the limited capacity for resource monitoring, the protection and restoration of migratory birds’ habitats are extremely urgent.

To protect biodiversity, it is important to foster harmony between humans and birds. Protect nature, positive governance, and practical conservation measures. Over 2000 protected areas have been established in the PRC, which partly cover some of the habitats used by migratory birds. Migratory bird sanctuaries along the coast of the Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of PRC have been inscribed on the World Heritage List.

The PRC officially launched an action Plan for the Protection and Restoration of Migratory Birds Flyways 2024 to 2030. Accelerating actions for a connected Conservation Framework. Restoring critical ecosystems and addressing the gaps in management and monitoring capacity.

To support migratory bird conservation, the PRC has launched a two-year project: Research on Protection and Restoration Policy of Migratory Birds, with support from the Asian Development Bank. 

The project is led by the National Development and Reform Commission, in close partnership with the National Forest and Grasslands Administration and Shanxi Forest and Grassland Bureau.

The project systematically evaluated the priority areas of the PRC’s conservation plans for migratory birds and their habitats. It identified conservation gaps, assessed the risks posed by global climate change to these flyways, and formulated plans to respond to global climate change.

The project is also part of an Asian Development Bank multi-country partnership, the Regional Flyway Initiative. This ambitious endeavor aims to conserve wetlands used by migratory waterbirds across the East Asian Australasian Flyway, spanning over 22 economies from the Northern to Southern hemispheres.