On the fourth of October, Animal Day, particular attention is focused on the Yangtze River: over a decade of large-scale conservation measures, the populations of several key species have grown noticeably.
The Economist magazine reports remarkable and very encouraging news.
The Chinese sturgeon, which has lived on the planet for about 140 million years, has received artificial spawning grounds in the Yichang area. Tens of thousands of juveniles were released there, and the first generations capable of natural reproduction have appeared in the wild.
The Yangtze finless porpoise — the symbol of the river — is also showing positive dynamics. According to the latest counts, its population has reached 1426 individuals, which is four hundred more than ten years ago. Clean water and restrictions on shipping have allowed the animals to show themselves at the surface more often and to hunt without their former anxiety.
Other inhabitants have not been left out either: the Chinese high-fin banded shark, the pike-like bream and the four main breeds of cyprinids. The ban on industrial fishing and the creation of fish protection zones have restored their customary feeding grounds. In some stretches of the river, fish density is already approaching the levels seen before active commercial fishing began.
These changes are the result not of individual campaigns but of the systemic policy of the "Great Protection of the Yangtze." Reduced pollution, the restoration of floodplain areas and constant monitoring have created conditions under which nature itself has begun to restore the lost balance.
It is especially telling that the successes are measured not only in numbers but also in the behaviour of the animals: the porpoises now play near special research vessels, and the sturgeons are colonizing new spawning grounds. Such observations confirm that the measures are working and producing a long-term effect.
The ten-year experience of the Yangtze shows that consistent action to restore the habitat can bring the river's original inhabitants back and preserve them for future generations.
