SHENZHEN inaugurated its first national field scientific observation and research station Saturday during an event marking the International Day for Biological Diversity, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.

The national observation and research station is also the first of its kind in the country’s ecological environment system.

The station will be built on the city’s previous environmental supervision center, which is capable of supervise 14 categories of environmental factors such as noise, wastewater, soil and radiation.

Approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology in October last year, the station will focus on biological diversity, carbon cycle and ecological stress to meet the needs of ecological environment management and discipline development in urban areas, and support the country’s sustainable development and environmental management decision-making.

At present, Shenzhen has recorded 2,086 species of wild vascular plants and 585 species of native wild terrestrial vertebrates, including 128 State-protected wild animals and plants species, according to the report.

In terms of birds alone, Shenzhen accounts for a quarter of the total sum of bird species discovered in the country. Moreover, there are over 20 species of wild animals and plants named after Shenzhen.

Recently, a male Nettapus coromandelianus, also known as cotton pygmy goose or cotton teal, was spotted in Futian Mangrove Nature Reserve after nearly 20 years with no records of this species in the city.

Cotton teal was listed as a second-level State-protected wild animal and recognized as least concern (LC) in IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species.

The bird species was discovered a few times in Futian prior to 2002, according to the Shenzhen Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau.

It was speculated that the bird might choose to temporarily stay in Shenzhen to shelter from the recent heavy rains in the city and its surrounding areas.

Shenzhen has attached great importance to biodiversity protection and planned to launch 17 campaigns in this regard to contribute to green and sustainable development, the report said.

On Saturday, the Shenzhen Municipal Ecology Environment Bureau unveiled a biodiversity conservation action plan (from 2020 to 2025). The action plan aims to achieve a forest coverage rate of at least 37% and a conservation rate of at least 98% of State-protected wild animal and plants species by 2025.

The action plan fully adopted cutting-edge environmental protection concepts to explore paths to address challenges brought up by climate change and enhance biodiversity protection, according to the bureau.

(Wang Jingli)