LOCAL authorities in Hangzhou, capital of East China’s Zhejiang Province, have released the latest regulation on the protection and management of the Xixi National Wetland Park, with the new rules coming into effect June 1.

The regulation, issued Tuesday, specifies the park’s range and highlights efforts to further conserve the area’s original ecosystems.

With a total area of 11.5 square km, the Xixi National Wetland Park is China’s first national wetland park. Open to the public since 2005, it boasts rare wetlands set among modern urban landscapes.

According to the regulation, the municipal government is expected to establish a coordination mechanism for the park’s protection and management.

In order to protect the local ecology, the regulation states that bodies of water and their sources within the park should remain in their original ecological state. Waste-water and sewage discharges into the park are forbidden. Meanwhile, production facilities that may cause pollution are banned from the park and its surrounding protection areas, as are waste dumping and landfill sites, according to the document. (Xinhua)