Flocks of migratory birds, like geese swignoids and shelducks, have come to winter in the Uiad grasslands, in the Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia, in northern China. Harbar, a shepherd of the Central Flag of Uiad, prepares corn to feed migratory birds. “Sometimes we see beyond 10.000 specimens of swan goose overwintering here ”, says Harbar, who recalls having warned only two swan geese in the area in 2009.“ They arrive every year in November and leave again in April or the following May ”.
The ecological context of the Uiad grasslands is improved in recent years thanks to various environmental restoration projects such as seasonality and pasture rotation. With the arrival of an increasing number of migratory birds, the government has established various bird protection stations and designated over 200 hectares of protected areas in the Uiad Front Flag. “We have taken several measures to protect wintering birds, including the sensitization of local shepherds and the suppression of poaching, "explains Wang Liqiang, a Forest Guard agent (Ansa-Xinhua).