Posted on April, 21 2009

Shanghai, China — Much more effort needs to be put into keeping the estuary of China’s longest river healthy, according to a declaration made in Shanghai today by the main Yangtze overview body.

Today’s Third Yangtze Forum declaration also said that while the overall Yangtze River water environment remains stable, lake eutrophication and water supply contamination still remain major threats. To remedy this, forum participants suggested long-term mechanisms for collaboration between the multitude of government, semi-government, private and civil society bodies involved in monitoring and managing the river.

“Estuaries are the pulse of the river basin from natural and socio-economic perspectives. The world’s estuaries are on the front line of climate change – from sea level rise, floods and droughts, to salt water intrusion, habitat degradation and biodiversity loss,” said James Leape, Director General of WWF International in a keynote speech to the forum.

From Datong, Anhui Province, the Yangtze River branches out into an estuary that stretches 640 kilometers to the East China Sea, and forms one of the largest continental shelves in the world. This area is now under threat from reduced flows from dams, urban, agricultural and industrial development and saltwater intrusion.

Rare and endangered aquatic life, including the Chinese sturgeon, finless porpoise, Chinese alligator and Yangtze River dolphin are also facing bigger threats. The Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau reported that fish stocks in the estuary are declining due to severe pollution, overfishing, and disruption of fish migration into dammed tributaries.

WWF, which along with other international organizations supported the Shanghai Municipal Government and the Ministry of Water Resources’ Changjiang Water Resources Commission (CWRC) in organizing the forum, said the river needed an ecosystem-based integrated approach which engaged all major stakeholders.

The Yangtze Declaration on Yangtze Estuary Protection and Management, jointly issued by all forum participants, called for more effort to be made to balance resource protection and economic development with more effective regional coordination, improved waste water treatment, and more comprehensive use of payments for environmental services (PES) to help better compensate land users for the environmental services they generate.

The forum was also told that the global economic crisis was an opportunity to embrace a more sustainable model for conservation. Participation in the World Estuary Alliance (WEA) was another way to ensure that Yangtze estuary authorities were informed of emerging knowledge and management practice in keeping estuaries healthy.

Now in its third session, the Yangtze Forum is a biennial event that was first held in 2005. It is a groundbreaking initiative that advances IRBM and provides an opportunity for governments, international organizations and academic institutions to discuss the protection and development of the Yangtze River.