The eco-friendly restoration and development experience of the Chenbao Grassland, or Moon Lake, located in Xinghua city in East China's Jiangsu province, was recently promoted as a model of its kind nationwide, under the Happy River and Lake project.
Situated in the southwest of Chenbao town, the Chenbao Grassland is one of the 20 lake areas in the city.
Due to long-term reclamation and implementation of fishpond aquaculture, the lake was faced with the dilemma that people failed to see.
To restore the basic functions of lakes and achieve sustainable utilization of lake resources, Xinghua started a special plan for returning polders – tracts of low land reclaimed from a body of water – back into lakes.
The implementation of the lake restoration project can also generate three direct economic benefits totaling 686 million yuan ($96.2 million).
After restoration, the lake is consistent in depth and has a lakeside zone, wetlands, shallow water areas, deep water areas and water channels conducive to maintaining biodiversity.
A company with the focus on the tourism of the Chenbao Grassland, co-founded by Xinghua Cultural Tourism Development and Chenbao town, was also established to further improve the ecological and economic benefits.
With the lake ecosystem becoming healthier, locals release fish and snails to repopulate the stock and develop a featured brand of special aquatic products. In the wake of that, a total of 75 metric tons of fish have been caught in recent years.
In addition, the lake with its beautiful scenery also attracted the settlement of the Taizhou Water Sports Training Base.
With the increasing popularity of the water sports training center, more tourism activities and models are being explored to form new commercial and cultural ventures.
A fabulous view of the Chenbao Grassland area. [Photo/WeChat account: xinghuafabu]