| According to “Assessment of the Ecological Service Functions and the Value of the Tidal Land and Wetland of Shanghai” conducted recently by the Estuarine and Coastal Research Center of East China Normal University, the eight major wetlands at the estuary of the Yangtze River purify 1.88 billion tons of ground sewage, which is equivalent to the annual amount of sewage water discharged by Shanghai. The 8 major wetlands are the wetland at the north of the estuary of the Yangtze River, the wetland at Chongming-Dongtan, Hengsha-Dongtan, Jiuduansha, Nanhui-Biantan, Chongming-Xitan, Changxing Island and Wusong. The wetland at Jiuduansha, for instance, has already had an area of 520 square kilometers though it turned into land only 50 years ago. Statistics show that on this piece of wetland there are over 100 species of birds, 167 species of fishes, 105 kinds of zooplanktons, and 126 kinds of phytoplankton. The wetland at Jiuduansha is now expanding at a speed of 127.3 hectares every year and is capable of purifying 700 million tons of sewage water annually. This year, the Municipal Government of Shanghai has applied for the state-level natural reserve for Jiuduansha Wetland. The Science & Technology Committee of Shanghai has listed “Ecological Environment Protection of and Renovation Technology for Jiuduansha Wetland and the Study of Its Effects” as a major program of this year, with a first-phase investment of RMB10 million yuan.
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