China News Service, Ulanqab, November 9th, Title: Chahan Nur: Six years of changes behind a lake with clear water
China News Service reporter Zhang Linhu
In early winter in Chahannur National Wetland Park in Shangdu County, the clear lake water meets the sky, Suaeda grass turns red, reeds turn golden brown, and flocks of migratory birds rise and fall between the lake and tidal flats. Standing on the observation deck, He Jing, director of the scientific research and monitoring section of the Shangdu County Wetland Protection Center, raised his hand and pointed to the lake: "Look, the white spoonbill is here again." The camera lens followed a few white figures. He said that the scene in front of him was hard-won.
The lake is back
Chahannaoer is located at the junction of Shangdu County, Ulanqab City, Inner Mongolia and Shangyi County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. Together with Daihai and Huangqihai, it is also known as "Two Seas and One Naoer". Historically, there was water here all year round and the lake surface was open. However, due to the influence of climate change and human activities, the water area once shrank, the water quality deteriorated, and the ecological functions degraded.
"When I first came here in 2020, I wore a pair of sneakers for several patrols, and the soles were corroded by salt and alkali." He Jing said that it was also in this year that the ecological defense battle in Chahannur began.
Dong Pei, director of the Shangdu County Wetland Protection Center, introduced that the local area has divided the watershed into wetland protection and restoration areas, groundwater overexploitation control areas, and watershed conservation areas in accordance with the idea of integrated management of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grass, and sand, and has systematically promoted protection and restoration; 64.31 square meters of land have been fenced and enclosed. Square kilometers, 35.37 square kilometers of wetland parks are all under enclosure control; for exposed and degraded areas, the "artificial restoration + natural restoration" model is adopted, with a total of 6,338 acres of artificial restoration, 20,200 acres of aerial grass seeding, and 6,800 acres of natural restoration.
The changes are written in the monitoring data: the plant species in Chahannur increased from 25 families, 77 genera, and 99 species to 41 families, 99 genera, and 168 species; the bird species increased from 12 orders, 27 families, and 79 species to 20 orders, 44 families, and 202 species. The national first-level protected animals Oriental white stork and black stork have been inhabiting here for 6 consecutive months. In He Jing's camera, rare water birds such as black storks, Oriental white storks, mute swans, and magpie ducks appeared one after another. Tens of thousands of bird photos recorded the rebirth of salt-alkali tidal flats.
The water account at the head of the field
Water is the lifeblood of wetlands. At the beginning of the governance in 2020, the water surface area of Chahannur Lake was less than 2 square kilometers. By 2025, this number will jump to 82.9 square kilometers, setting new historical highs. On October 1, 2026, the lake surface remained stable at 76.9 square kilometers.
Dong Pei said that Shangdu County has implemented "one river, one policy" governance for five first-level tributaries including Shibaqing River and Tebuula River, completed river dredging, and unblocked wetland water replenishment channels. At the same time, we strictly implemented the water resources protection policy, promoted the comprehensive reform of agricultural water prices, installed 4,476 sets of intelligent water-saving metering facilities, completed the conversion of 145,300 acres of wetland to dry land, and optimized the industrial structure and planting structure.
In Xiaohaizi Town, not far from Chahannur, the autumn harvest of oatmeal and millet has just been completed. "The harvest of 300 acres of oats planted this year was good, and the purchaser took it away early. In this way, the income has not been reduced, water has been saved, and the lake has returned. This account is worth it no matter how you calculate it." Hao Ping, a villager in Liujia Village, said.
New force to protect the lake
When the clear water returns, it must be protected for a long time. In the early morning, Tian Bing, a policeman from the Chahannur Ecological Police Office, patrolled along the perimeter of the wetland. Sometimes he stopped by the protective fence, and sometimes he raised his binoculars to look at the reeds and the water. "Our daily core work is to patrol and protect, focusing on preventing illegal grazing, illegal fishing, poaching and other behaviors." Tian Bing said that after six years of staying here, he has seen that the lake is getting more and more beautiful, and the people's ecological protection awareness has also increased significantly.
Shangdu County has also established a smart monitoring platform and smart monitoring platform for Chahannur National Wetland Park, which integrates monitoring, management, emergency response and management functions to realize "cloud management" of the wetland park. In view of the characteristics of being located at the junction of the two provinces, Shangdu County and Shangyi County have implemented the "1+4 Ones" inter-provincial collaboration mechanism, regularly carried out joint patrol law enforcement, ecological monitoring, science education, etc., and established a management and protection pattern of inter-provincial linkage, multi-party collaboration, and group prevention and group treatment.
"The autumn scenery here is very beautiful, with reeds in full bloom and birds flying in the air. It is both scenic and wild. It is especially suitable for bringing children to experience nature." The improved ecology has also led to bird watching, study, and ecological experience. Tourists Zhang Fan and his family of three made a special trip here. It is understood that Chahannur will receive 80,000 tourists in 2026.
The water is clear, the grass is green, and the birds have returned. In six years, a lake has been reborn. In He Jing's camera, there are more and more rare water birds, in Hao Ping's fields, oats have replaced sugar beets; on Tian Bing's patrol road, more people have taken the initiative to protect it, and the restoration and protection of Chahan Nao'er continues.
