The Qiantang Greater Bay Provincial Wetland Park. [Photo/WeChat account: hzfbwx]

Hangzhou has welcomed a massive addition to its natural landscape with the official approval of the Qiantang Greater Bay Provincial Wetland Park by the Zhejiang Provincial Forestry Bureau.

This marks the first provincial wetland park to be approved in Qiantang district, making it the sole newly-designated provincial wetland park in Zhejiang for 2023.

Spanning an area nearly four times that of the Xixi National Wetland Park, the Qiantang Greater Bay Provincial Wetland Park will stand alongside Xixi, forming a duo in wetland conservation in Hangzhou. The initial construction phase of the wetland park has already commenced, with the first section set to open to the public in May.

Located at the confluence of the Qiantang River and the Hangzhou Bay estuary, the wetland park covers a planned area of 4,406.99 hectares, boasting a wetland ratio of 99.56 percent.

The park is Hangzhou's largest intertidal wetland along the river, the starting point of the Qiantang River and the place where the city's first rays of sunlight illuminate the landscape. It also serves as a crucial transit station for the East Asia-Australasia flyway, hosting 140 bird species across 49 families and 16 orders.

The approval of the park is a pivotal step in safeguarding and restoring wetland habitats, as well as maintaining the area's status as a vital international stop for migratory birds.