New Zealand, China step up work to protect ancient bird migration routes

New Zealand and China are to strengthen work on protecting environments used by birds that migrate between the two hemispheres, Conservation Minister Maggie Barry said Wednesday.

Barry met with Chinese Ambassador Wang Lutong at Pukorokoro-Miranda, a North Island bird center, Wednesday to discuss his work to secure protection for vital migratory bird wetland habitats in China's Bohai Bay.

Significant progress had been made on protection of the red knot in China, whose migration formed "an ancient and tangible link between New Zealand and China," she said.

"They rely on wetlands in Bohai Bay as a refuelling stop on their way from the North Island to breeding grounds in Siberia, a 30,000-km round trip," Barry said in a statement.

Wang had worked with the authorities in Hebei Province to gain protection for a significant habitat for red knots and shorebirds, covering more than 3,000 hectares, with other extensive wetland sites under consideration.

"The ambassador is a bird enthusiast who understands the crucial importance of Bohai Bay to conservation and has given generous support to this initiative," Barry said.

Director-general of New Zealand's Department of Conservation (DOC) Lou Sanson would soon travel to China to discuss details of an agreement on protection of migratory bird habitat in both countries.

Sanson said around 5,000 godwits spent their summers at Pukorokoro-Miranda.

"They fly non-stop from Siberia, covering the 12,000 km in eight to nine days," Sanson said in a statement.

DOC and the Pukorokoro-Miranda Naturalists' Trust, which runs the center, were working with the authorities in China on protecting the Chinese sites where godwits and red knots fed during their annual flights.

Trust chair Gillian Vaughan said trust officials had a sister-site partnership with the Yalu Jiang National Nature Reserve in northeast China's Liaoning Province, since 2004.

"The Chinese shores of the Yellow Sea include some key sites that allow species like the bar-tailed godwit and red knot to complete their incredible migratory journeys. Protecting and enhancing areas like the Caofeidian coast and Yalu Jiang National Nature Reserve will be a key to preserving New Zealand's biodiversity," Vaughan said in a statement.

"Shorebirds link our countries together and its essential New Zealand continues to work with China and other countries connected by these birds." Endit