STORY: Tiny nature reserve for rare birds in downtown Xiamen
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 27, 2024
DATELINE: Jan. 30, 2024
LENGTH: 0:01:29
LOCATION: XIAMEN, China
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Wuyuan Bay Nature Reserve
2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese): CAI LIBO, Director of Xiamen Nature Reserve Affairs Center
3. various of Wuyuan Bay Nature Reserve

STORYLINE:

Xiamen, a coastal eastern Chinese metropolis, may have one of the world's smallest nature reserves for one single endangered bird species.

The distinguished visitor to the reserve is called Merops philippinus, or Blue-tailed Bee-eater.

Admired by many as one of the most beautiful birds in the world for its fancy feathers, the species is under Class II state protection in China.

Set up in 2011, the Wuyuan Bay Nature Reserve for the Blue-tailed Bee-eater welcomes its big moment every April to late October when the birds stop by during migration and dig caves on the cliffs to lay and hatch their eggs.

Surrounded by over-10-story buildings just 200 to 300 meters across the streets, the tiny reserve is equipped with all it needs to protect the habitats where the endangered bird can reproduce safely yearly.

It is Xiamen's first nature reserve in the city proper, and the rare bird guests chose the place purely by accident.

SOUNDBITE (Chinese): CAI LIBO, Director of Xiamen Nature Reserve Affairs Center
"After bird observers and citizens spotted Blue-tailed Bee-eaters nesting here, we went to the municipal government to apply for the establishment of this reserve."

The tailored services and preservation efforts have proven to satisfy the bird guests well. 

Last year alone, about 200 Blue-tailed Bee-eaters nestled on its cliff, of which 93 pairs of bird parents gave birth to their offspring.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Xiamen, China.
(XHTV)