Hubei is home to 73 national rare and endangered wetland species now, including grus monacha, milu deer, finless porpoise and wild water chestnut, according to statistics released by the Forestry Administration of Hubei Province on November 3, 2022.

Hubei Province is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, straddling the two major water systems-the Yangtze River and the Han River. The rivers in the territory are crisscrossed, and there are many lakes and reservoirs, enjoying the reputation of the “province of a thousand lakes” and the “hometown of fish and rice”. The wetland resources abound in the region, including lakes, rivers, marshes, artificial wetlands and other types of wetlands. At present, the province has a total of 1.7469 million hectares of wetlands, accounting for 9.4 percent of the province's area and the largest in central China.

Hubei has made big headway in wetland restoration after all-out efforts since 2018. The results of winter waterbird surveys in 2022 and 2020 showed that the number of waterbird species in 108 survey sites in the province increased from 85 to 92, with population surging from 651,000 to 777,000, which indicated that the province’s wetland ecosystem is becoming perfect day by day. (en.hubei.gov.cn by Ruan Xinqi)