In September 2026, in Washington, Chinese researcher Wang Ding of the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences became the first in his country to receive the prestigious international Wolfgang Kiessling Award for species protection. The award recognized his forty years of work to save the Yangtze finless porpoise — a rare river mammal whose population had long been declining rapidly.
According to the results of a special expedition in 2025, 1426 individuals were counted in the Yangtze basin. This is forty percent more than in 2017, when 1012 animals were recorded. The turning point came thanks to a comprehensive protection system developed and implemented by Wang Ding's team: a combination of protection in the natural environment, relocation to protected waters, and artificial breeding.
The scientist and his colleagues conducted systematic research for decades along the entire course of the river, including Lakes Poyang and Dongting. They precisely identified the causes of the population's decline and proposed practical measures that formed the basis of the national strategy "Great Protection of the Yangtze." As a result, it became possible to create several protected areas where the animals successfully adapt after relocation, as well as to achieve the world's first successes in the artificial breeding of the species.
The Chinese experience has already begun to be applied in other countries — in Cambodia and Bangladesh. This shows that local scientific solutions can work in different regions if they rely on accurate data and interdepartmental cooperation. The population stopped falling and began to grow slowly but steadily — a rare example of an environmental trend being reversed.
Wang Ding himself, after the ceremony, emphasized that the award belongs not only to him, but also to several generations of researchers, as well as to everyone involved in protecting the river's ecosystem. The Kiessling Prize is awarded annually to one person for breakthrough projects capable of influencing international species conservation strategies.
The story of the Yangtze finless porpoise is a reminder that even severely affected populations can recover if science, policy, and society act in concert and for the long term.
