Goushan Island in Ninghai county, Ningbo. [Photo/Xu Mingyi]

Two years of bird protection efforts paid off when Goushan Island in Ninghai county, Ningbo, became a haven for thousands of egrets, State-level protected birds.

In 2020, Qiangjiao town in Ninghai county established the Ninghai Bay Bird Protection Volunteer Team, which consists of fishermen, policemen and ordinary residents.

Policeman Zheng Fei is the director of a bird protection station. According to Zheng, the team only had 12 members in 2020, but now consists of 153 members.

Zheng said that the team has saved 57 injured wild birds over the past two years, and more and more residents of Qiangjiao town are participating in efforts to protect birds.

Egrets have a reputation as "Eco Birds" due to their high standards when it comes to water and air quality.

In recent years, Qiangjiao town has been working to improve the environment of Goushan Island and its wetlands. As a result, the island has attracted many migratory birds.

"The number of egrets on the island keeps increasing, while the variety of birds is also growing," said Hu Shengjiang, a member of the bird protection team, "Now is the breeding time for egrets, and ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­m­­a­­n­­­y­­­­­ ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­n­e­­s­­t­­­­­­s­­­­ ­­h­a­­v­­e­­ ­­­b­­­­e­­­e­n­ ­­built on the trees."