Sanya restores 66.7 hectares of mangroves by 2020

Sanya has planted about one million mangrove trees, covering an area of 1,000 mu (66.7 hectares), and returned 2,000 mu of ponds to wetlands or forests by 2020, Sanya Daily reported on April 5.

Mangroves boast a variety of environmentally friendly characteristics, such as protecting sand, cleaning river channels as well as water and air purification. Migratory birds inhabit and breed in mangroves every year, which greatly enriches the local biodiversity. It has been one of the key tasks of Sanya to protect mangroves.

The ecological restoration efforts have been intensified in Yalong Bay Qingmei Port Mangrove Reserve since 2013. The mangroves have reached 400 mu after several years of restoration, said Lin Guisheng, an official of the Sanya Wildlife Conservation Center.

The reserve has a total planning area of 1,389 mu, with 18 varieties of mangrove trees, which account for half of the existing mangrove species in China. It is the natural reserve with the best protected mangroves and the largest forested area in Sanya.

Sanya has another two mangrove reserves, the Sanya River Mangrove Reserve and the Sanya Tielu Port Mangrove Reserve. The former has a planned total area of 3,001 mu, with 600 mu of forest area, while the latter has a planned area of 4,380 mu, of which about 50 mu is forested.

Residents in Tielu Port Mangrove Reserve plant mangrove trees. [Photo/Sanya Daily]

The ecological scenery in Sanya River Mangrove Reserve. [Photo/Sanya Daily]