A group of senior officials from Shanghai, China are in the UK this week to sign a joint Wetland Affiliation Agreement between the RSPB at Wallasea Island and the Shanghai Chongming Dongtan National Nature Reserve. As the District Council website explains:
The RSPB’s Wallasea Island team has been assisting with the development of new wetland habitats in Shanghai as part of its international programme for the globally threatened spoon-billed sandpiper.Their trip sees them visit the RSPB’s groundbreaking Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project located to the north east of the market town of Rochford in Essex as well as Hanson-RSPB wetland project in Cambridgeshire, where innovative conservation work has inspired such international interest.
The Shanghai Chongming Dongtan National Nature Reserve, managed by the Chinese municipality of Shanghai, is an internationally important Yellow Sea coastal wetland designated under the Ramsar Convention.
Delegates from the Nature Reserve will visit Wallasea Island for the first time to see the habitat restoration first-hand.RSPB Projects Development Manager Jeff Kew said: “The two coastal nature reserves (Shanghai Chongming Dongtan and RSPB Wallasea Island) face the same challenges even though they are over 5000 miles apart.This visit is about building international cooperation for the conservation of migratory birds through sharing knowledge and experience.”
We wonder if the Rochford team told the Chinese delegation that the remains of Darwin’s Beagle lies in the river bed nearby at Paglesham.
And if you don’t have much interest on bird conservation in China, these videos might help:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmK1DSA6bR8[/embedyt]
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bndabWDDX8o[/embedyt]