Xixi National Wetland Park (Photo/Li Zhong)

The 29^th World Wetlands Day falls on February 2, 2025.

On January 20, Hangzhou announced the Wetlands Day publicity activity: on February 2, Xixi National Wetland Park, Tonglu Nanbao Provincial Wetland Park, and Qiantang Greater Bay Area Provincial Wetland Park would be open to the public free of charge.

Hangzhou will also hold week-long wetland conservation publicity activities synchronously. For example, China Wetland Museum will hold the 14^th Wetland Theme Painting Competition.

Hangzhou boasts a wetland area of 134,300 hectares, accounting for eight percent of the city's total area. It is home to one international wetland, and six provincial wetlands. The relevant person in charge of Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Forestry and Water Resources said, "At present, the protection rate of wetlands has reached 63.8 percent. We hope to encourage more people to learn about and protect wetlands through a series of activities."

In recent years, Hangzhou has implemented targeted protection and restoration for wetlands, and has restored the Bird Habitat of the Lotus Beach at Xixi Wetland, Fenkou Wuqiang Creek in Chun’an, Beihu Marshland in Yuhang, and Yangbei Lake Wetland in Fuyang.

Last year, Hangzhou further refined the classification standards for municipal-level, county-level and other wetlands. Based on the wetlands' ecological value, humanistic value, water quality, and value dimensions of biodiversity, the first list of municipal wetlands has been designated. East Bay in Qiantang District, Qingshan Lake in Lin'an District, and Xiayuan Mountain Reservoir in Chun’an were included in the list.

In September this year, Hangzhou will host the 5^th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves (WCBR), an important international event. WCBR is the largest, most comprehensive, and influential international conference associated with the "Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme". This will be the first time that the WCBR is held in China, and also in the Asia-Pacific region.