The sweeping Dasha'ao Beach is a popular place to visit on Nanji Island. [Photo/CFP]
The Nanji Islands National Marine Nature Reserve in Pingyang county — located in Wenzhou city, in East China's Zhejiang province — reported substantive progress in biodiversity in a presentation on Sept 24 during the 5th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves.
Since 2005, a total of 630 new plant and animal species have been recorded in the reserve, including 287 marine species, making the area an increasingly fertile ground for reproduction.
Located in the East China Sea off Pingyang county, the reserve covers 201 square kilometers with 85 islands and surrounding waters. It was among China's first five national marine reserves approved by the State Council and it joined UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere, or MAB, network in 1998.
Over the past 20 years, coordinated efforts in protection, green development and governance have steadily improved biodiversity there.
The reserve has pioneered a Nanji model of conservation — integrated bay-island protection, systematic and artificial restoration and natural recovery. This approach has helped maintain marine and coastal ecosystems, enhance biodiversity and improve ecological resilience.
Today, Nanji hosts 2,929 species of flora and fauna, with shellfish and algae making up 20 percent of China's and 80 percent of Zhejiang's recorded varieties. About 23 percent of the northern and southern distribution boundaries of animal and plant species intersect there. Bird diversity is also rising, with 43 new species recorded between late 2023 and 2024. The islands have since been listed as an international wetland of importance, with several bays recognized as national-level beautiful bays.
At the conference, UNESCO MAB representative Hans Thulstrup praised Zhejiang's "one sea, one mountain" model — highlighting Nanji's marine ecosystems alongside the forests of Tianmu Mountain and Qingliang Peak as exemplars of ecological balance.
