ORGANIZED by Futian Office for the Building of a Spiritual Civilization and Shenzhen Evening News, a group of Futian Good Citizens visited Futian Mangrove Ecological Park on Dec. 25 to learn about the construction and operation of the park, as well as the preservation of mangroves and birding. The park project began in 2012 and opened to the public in 2015. It covers 38 hectares and has a scenic area, an ecological restoration area and an ecological control zone. The Good Citizens mainly visited the ecological restoration area. The park has made innovations in its operation. It’s currently managed by Mangrove Conservation Foundation (MCF), led by Wang Shi, which is responsible for the daily management, ecological environment protection and natural science education. It’s the first urban ecological park in China that has investment from the government and is run by an NGO. The tall sonneratia apetala, which had been introduced from overseas and all fell down during Typhoon Mangkhut, attracted the attention of the visitors. According to a staff member of MCF, the sonneratia apetala was introduced from Bangladesh in the 1980s. It has advantages in wind and flood prevention and has a high survival rate. However, the tree grows super fast, at 1.8 meters per year, and can grow to 14 meters, which is much taller than any local species. This has affected the growth of other species. “We are handling this issue. People don’t need to worry because sonneratia apetala can only be planted artificially.” When they reached the ecology monitoring station, Futian Good Citizens Luo Ailan, Huang Maosheng and Zhang Neng used telescopes to watch the flying black-faced spoonbills. In the southern area of the park, it’s very common to see ardea albas, shovellers, black-headed gulls, black-winged stilts, black-faced spoonbills and other birds in winter. “We have observed 10 black-faced spoonbills passing the winter this year,” said a staff member at the park. Nicknamed “coast guards,” the mangrove swamps protect coastal areas from erosion and storm surges. The mangroves’ massive root systems are efficient at dissipating wave energy. Because of the uniqueness of mangrove ecosystems and the protection against erosion they provide, they are often the object of conservation programs, including national biodiversity action plans. It’s also an important place for birds, especially migratory birds that come during the winter for food. (Chen Xiaochun) | 