Coastal Sprawl and a Last Stand for Wetlands

(Beijing) – Sprawling urban and industrial development along China's 18,000 kilometer east coast is a lifeline for the nation's economy but a threat to the region's dwindling wetlands.

And as the wetlands disappear, so do migrating birds. A recent study by the environmental organization Wetlands International blamed industrial development for shrinking the flocks of migratory shorebirds that regularly fly over eastern China. The phenomenon has affected 22 of 25 types of birds studied.