Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Province, covers an area of 7,195 square kilometers and has a permanent population of 6 million people. It is a cultural city with a long history. There are numerous historical and cultural relics and natural landscapes here, among which the most famous is the Tengwang Pavilion. The largest freshwater lake in China, Poyang Lake, is located on the east side of Nanchang.

The water level of Poyang Lake is high in summer and low in winter. Affected by low water levels, the lake bed of the wetlands in the Nanji Wetland Protection Area, located in the hinterland of Poyang Lake, gradually emerges from the water surface, forming more than 30 small and large shallow disc shaped lakes. These disc shaped lakes are the main habitats of over 100,000 overwintering waterbirds in the protection area.

In 2020, China implemented a ten-year fishing ban policy on the Yangtze River, and Poyang Lake also implemented it. In order to maximize the retention of ecological water in the saucer-shaped lake within the conservation area and to sustain its carrying capacity for wintering waterbirds. The Jiangxi Poyang Lake Nanji Wetland National Nature Reserve Management Bureau has developed a “Lake Agreement Management” measure.

Through the establishment of conservation management agreements with local communities, we collaboratively oversee and maintain the saucer-shaped Lake. In accordance with the standard rate of 15 yuan per mu (a unit of area; about 1/15 of a hectare*), the Conservation Area Management Bureau allocates co-management funds to each village and develops a management plan for the lake based on the water requirements of wintering water birds and aquatic animals. Local communities designate residents to implement these plans, including repairing locks, regulating water levels, conducting patrols, and maintaining records.

This measure ultimately employed 21 impoverished individuals from the local community to participate in wetland conservation work, increasing their income and effectively protecting migratory birds from safely wintering within this wetland area.