The estuary in the Yellow River Delta State Nature Reserve, China's largest wetland, in East China's Shandong Province, covers an area of about 153,000 hectares and used to be home to more than 4 million birds from 260 species.

However, since the early 1970s, the lower reaches of the Yellow River have occasionally dried up due to dry weather and huge increases in water consumption by industrial and farming sectors in its drainage area. The shrinking water flow and dry spells have done further damage to the nature reserve, already devastated by human activities.

As a result, local residents are not the only victims of the loss of freshwater wetlands, desertification and salinization. Some rare bird species have also had to find new homes.

To change the situation, the Yellow River Water Resources Committee began in 1999 to take measures to control water consumption and distribution across the whole Yellow River valley. It has also tried to restore vegetation along the river. The work has gradually paid off. During the last three years, few sections of China's second longest river, known as the "Mother River" and the "cradle of the Chinese nation," have dried up.

"Because of the continuous water supply in the Yellow River, the freshwater wetlands in its lower reaches have kept growing and the estuary has been gradually rehabilitated," said Lu Juanzhang, an official with the Yellow River Delta State Nature Reserve, yesterday.

According to Lu, visitors can now see many precious birds under State protection, like snow geese and white storks, active in the nature reserve.

(China Daily May 21, 2003)