The Yangtze Finless Porpoise Awareness Month ended with the closing ceremony held at Tian-e-Zhou National Nature Reserve on June 30, 2022. (Credit: IHB) 

The Yangtze Finless Porpoise Awareness Month ended with the closing ceremony held at Tian-e-Zhou National Nature Reserve on June 30, 2022.    

The Tian-e-Zhou Reserve has been protecting cetaceans for more than 30 years, according to HU Lianghui, director of the reserve.    

Yangtze finless porpoise is the indicator of Yangtze biodiversity. It is important to protect the finless porpoise as an important part of protecting biodiversity and promoting ecological civilization, both today and in a thousand years, said LI Xinshui, president of China Wildlife Conservation Association.    

Wuhan Fishery Administration and the Tian-e-Zhou Reserve are connected by their relationship with the finless porpoise. “We have jointly rescued the finless porpoise in Tianxingzhou, Wuhan, and supported the relocation of the finless porpoise to the reserve,” said WANG Wengao, chief of Agricultural Law Enforcement Detachment under Wuhan Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau.    

The Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Tian-e-Zhou Reserve have collaborated more than 30 years, and have gradually gained recognition from the academic, aquatic and resource environment communities at home and abroad. The reserve is not only considered the first successful attempt at off-site protection of a cetacean species in the world, but also an important base for conducting research on small endangered cetaceans, according to WANG Ding, secretary general of Wuhan Baiji Conservation Foundation (WBCF).    

At the closing ceremony, WANG Ding presented the Outstanding Contribution Award to ZHU Xinpei, the former station chief of the reserve, in recognition of his protection of the Yangtze finless porpoises. After retiring in 1994, Zhu has never left the reserve, dedicating his youth to the conservation of finless porpoises.   

YANG Jiayan, an old fisherman, donated 30,000 RMB to the WBCF on behalf of the rescue team of Shishou City Finless Porpoise Conservation Association. As a local fisherman in the reserve, Yang led other fishermen to join the protection of finless porpoises after the ten-year fishing ban was implemented. There are many such "porpoise guardians" along the Yangtze River, and such heartwarming stories continue to unfold every day.   

DENG Xiaojun, a program specialist at the WBCF, gave a summary report of this month’s activities and hoped that this activity could make more people participate in the protection of the ecology of the Yangtze and the Yangtze finless porpoise.   

After the closing ceremony, the delegates went on a cruise trip to the Tian-e-Zhou reserve. On the endless water, a group of porpoises kept rolling, squirting and jumping, which drew a gasp of surprise from the delegates.    

The Yangtze Finless Porpoise Awareness Month was launched two years ago. It is an annual scientific and educational event for the Yangtze finless porpoise, and a national event to practice ecological civilization and promote Yangtze culture.  

 
Calligraphy works exhibition features the protection of the Yangtze ecology (Credit: IHB) 

At the closing ceremony, WANG Ding presented the Outstanding Contribution Award to ZHU Xinpei, the former station chief of the reserve, in recognition of his protection of the Yangtze finless porpoises. (Credit: IHB) 

YANG Jiayan, an old fisherman, donated 30,000 RMB to the WBCF on behalf of the rescue team of Shishou City Finless Porpoise Conservation Association. (Credit: IHB) 

The delegates went on a cruise trip to the Tian-e-Zhou reserve. (Credit: IHB)