12th Dongting Lake International Bird-Watching Festival Opens

The 12th Dongting Lake International Bird-Watching Festival opened in Yueyang City on February 18. The festival was hosted by the China Wildlife Conservation Association, the Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, the Hunan Provincial Department of Forestry, and the Yueyang Municipal People's Government, the Changde Municipal People's Government, and the Yiyang Municipal People's Government. Zhang Yingchun, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee and vice governor of the People's Government of Hunan Province, announced the opening of the festival.

The theme of the three-day festival is "Beautiful Dongting Lake, Best Place for Bird Watching". Thirty teams participate in the bird watching competition, which enables participants to view birds at night. An activity of "Internet plus bird watching" is arranged, and the public can watch birds via live streaming platforms. Meanwhile, the Dongting Lake Migrant Birds Protection International Forum was scheduled to be held.

The festival has been held for 11 consecutive years. It won support from international organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Global Environment Facility and the World Wide Fund for Nature. More than 200 teams from over 30 countries and regions have taken part in bird-watching competitions. The festival has been developed into a recognizable brand in Hunan and even among national eco-culture festivals. A platform for the mainstreaming of bird and wetland protection, led by the government, participated by the public, and coordinated by departments has been built.

Yueyang is known as the capital of bird watching in China. The city has always kept in mind President Xi's instruction of "protecting the Yangtze River", and been building a green development demonstration zone of the Yangtze River Economic Belt with high standards.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Xiao Juan

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn