The first curve of the Yellow River in Gansu province. [Photo by Tong Yu/China News Service/Provided to China Daily]

"Fortunately, the ecological restoration of migratory bird habitats has begun, which has reversed the decline in the population and the number of spoon-billed Sandpipers has been somewhat halted," he said.

In an attempt to improve the ecological environment of the coastal wetland, with the support of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lei, led the expert group of the coastal wetland protection project, which, in 2016, released its "China Coastal Wetland Protection Strategy Research Report".

There are nine major bird migration routes in the world, and the East Asia-Australia migration route faces the highest number of threats, he said.

He calls for a closer global interconnection of information on the living conditions of migratory birds."We have established the East Asia-Australasia Flyway Research Center, of which the secretariat is headquartered in our college, where we investigate the life cycle of migratory birds, track and observe their status along the route, understand the needs of the birds in their habitats, carry out ecological restoration work, and jointly escort migratory birds and protect global ecological security."

Over the past 20 years he has also developed and run the "Wetland Ambassador" campaign, which encourages college students to take part in training during the summer vacation and conduct field trips to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. His team has inspired an increasing number of active and passionate college students to take up the cause of wetland conservation.

The wetland protection systems have been initially established, as China has a total of 57 internationally important wetlands, 602 wetland nature reserves, 899 national wetland parks, 781 provincial wetlands, and a large number of wetland protection communities. In the coming year, China will strengthen the protection of wetlands and promote the implementation of the "Wetland Protection and Restoration System Program", the National Forestry and Grassland Administration said.