Dongying is a city in Shandong Province, China. The city has a Ramsar Site located in the estuary of the Yellow River, Shandong Yellow River Delta Wetland. The Shandong Yellow River Delta Wetland Ramsar Site is the youngest, most extensive and most well-preserved estuarine wetland ecosystem in the warm temperate zone of China. The wetland provides a good refuge for many rare and endangered birds. It is an important transfer station, wintering ground and breeding ground for migratory birds on the East Asia-Australia migration route. It is also an important breeding ground for the eastern white stork, the city bird of Dongying City.

Thanks to the unique topography and natural conditions of this Ramsar Site, natural landscapes with “odd”, “special”, “open”, “wild” and “new” as the main aesthetic characteristics were created. The wetland has three featured resources, which are the confluence of the Yellow River and Bohai Sea, the newborn wetland, and rare and endangered birds. It provides places for leisure tourism, wetland experience, and popular science education. It has been rated as a national 5A scenic spot. In 2019, the wetland received 601,200 tourists and earned 18,716,500 yuan. The protection and rational use of the wetland does not limit the development of the city, but promotes the sustainable development of Dongying City.

Governance of the Shandong Yellow River Delta Wetland Ramar Site is assumed by the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve Administration, founded in 1992. Authorized by the Dongying Government, it has four sections: Resource Management Section (Legal and Safety Management Section co-located), Tourism Management Section, Personnel Section, and Finance Section; four public institutions: Wetland Museum, Scientific Research Center, Ecotourism Center, and Integrated Law Enforcement Detachment; and three administration stations, which are the Yellow River Estuary Management Station, Dawenliu Management Station, and Yiqianer Management Station.

Dongying City adopted policies on wetland protection such as the Regulation on the Management of the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve, Wetland Protection Regulation of Dongying City, and Master Plan for the Protection and Restoration of Wetlands in Dongying City (2018 – 2025). Policies related to the construction of Dongying City as a Wetland City include the Wetland City Construction Regulation of Dongying City, Wetland City Improvement Action Plan of Dongying City (2019-2020), Wetland City Construction Plan of Dongying City, and Three-year Action Plan for Wetland City Construction in Dongying City.

A number of wetland conservation projects have been implemented in the city. The wetland ecological diversity protection project focuses on six parts: sedimentation pond, water diversion project, foraging area, habitat and breeding island, ecological island, and isolation ditch. The protection and restoration project of the Wetland of International Importance in the Yellow River Delta is an investment project within the central fiscal budget of 2017, and is the largest state-invested wetland ecological protection project undertaken by Dongying City since its establishment. The construction area of the project is located at the Yellow River Estuary and Dawenliu Management Station (both banks of the Yellow River), covering a total area of 3,200 hectares, with a total investment of 106.87 million yuan. The project has been carried out in two phases over a period of three years (2018-2020).

The city also has invested in wetland education centers. These facilities include the Yellow River Estuary Wetland Museum and the Yellow River Delta Bird Museum. The Yellow River Estuary Wetland Museum mainly displays the rich and diverse wetland ecosystems and beautiful wetland natural landscapes in the Yellow River Delta. It is the largest wetland museum in China. The Yellow River Delta Bird Museum is currently the largest wild bird museum in China. With the theme “protecting rare birds and building ecological civilization together”, it is divided into four exhibition halls and displays more than 1,400 specimens including specimens of rare wild birds. Other programs of Dongying City focus on the establishment of wetland schools and promotion of education based on the wetland as a Ramsar Site.