In the reed marshes of Shenhu Lake in Hubei, on the vast beach of Dongting Lake, on the blue waves of Poyang Lake...
The Oriental white stork, known as the "giant panda among birds", is returning from its long journey along the Yangtze River.
Their migration trajectories connect the ecological changes of the Yangtze River during the ten years of conservation.
As a national first-level protected wild animal and an IUCN endangered species, the Oriental white stork is extremely picky about its habitat. Traditionally, it "populates in the north and overwinters in the south" and once disappeared from many places in the Yangtze River Basin.
In recent years, the Oriental white stork has not only returned, but its breeding area has significantly expanded southward. They have been nesting and breeding in many places along the Yangtze River. More and more individuals no longer follow the rhythm of "migrating north to breed" and have transformed from "migratory birds" to "resident birds".
Behind this choice is the ecological protection along the Yangtze River for ten years:
Upstream, in Chongqing, the first fish "rescue ship" in the Yangtze River Basin was built to protect aquatic life and build a solid food source for migratory birds;
In Shenhu Lake, Hubei Province, a total of 32,000 acres of farmland have been converted to wetlands and 78,000 acres have been converted from fishing to wetlands in the past ten years. The Oriental white storks have returned happily, with the population reaching a new high in 2026;
Dongting Lake in Hunan is blessed with an all-weather high-tech protective net, and villagers voluntarily join the bird protection team. The nesting time of Oriental white storks in 2025 is three months earlier than the previous year;
Gaoyou Lake in Jiangsu Province guards every Oriental White Stork nest. Related protection cases were twice presented at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, showing China's ecological protection samples to the world.
In the past 10 years, the population of overwintering Oriental white storks in the Yangtze River Basin has increased from about 2,500-3,500 in 2016 to more than 8,000 in 2026, accounting for more than 80% of the global population. It has become the core carrying area for the recovery of the global Oriental white stork population.
In the past 10 years, the overwintering distribution of Oriental white storks in the Yangtze River Basin has expanded from the single core area of Poyang Lake to cover the entire Yangtze River mainstream, lakes along the river, and tributary wetlands. Many protected areas in Hubei, Hunan, Anhui and other provinces have achieved breakthroughs from extinction to record highs. The Yangtze River Basin is expected to become the second breeding area of the Oriental White Stork, which is a milestone for the recovery and survival of the global population.
Zhang Zhengwang, a professor at Beijing Normal University and chairman of the Ornithological Branch of the Chinese Zoological Society, believes that as a national first-level protected animal and a core indicator species of the wetland ecosystem, the 10-year reversal of the Oriental White Stork population directly reflects the health of the Yangtze River wetland ecosystem and is a landmark achievement of the effectiveness of the Yangtze River's biodiversity conservation.
After ten years of great protection of the Yangtze River, the concept of "joint efforts to protect and avoid large-scale development" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The "ten-year ban on fishing in the Yangtze River" has been further promoted, wetland restoration has been carried out across the entire region, and the national bird protection awareness has been significantly improved. The wetlands along the Yangtze River continue to expand and have become a key "life stop" on the East Asian-Australasian migratory bird migration corridor.
Oriental white stork, blue-headed pochard, Chinese merganser, white crane, black stork... Oriental white stork and its friends fly across the Yangtze River and stay in the Yangtze River. This is the echo of ecology, the awakening of civilization, and the most beautiful answer to the Yangtze River Protection Initiative.
Wherever the birds fall, it is a sign of ecological improvement. The river surges and thousands of birds come to roost. This is a moving poem written by the land of Jingchu to the Yangtze River.
