key: cord-0042986-qqc0vodm
authors: Huettmann, Falk
title: Effective Poyang Lake Conservation? A Local Ecology View from Downstream Involving Internationally Migratory Birds When Trying to Buffer and Manage Water from HKH with ‘Modern’ Concepts
date: 2019-11-25
journal: Hindu Kush-Himalaya Watersheds Downhill: Landscape Ecology and Conservation Perspectives
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-36275-1_6
sha: ebf501f851df6e663e0c285ca2964bdf49ddda46
doc_id: 42986
cord_uid: qqc0vodm

Poyang Lake represents a major wetland system in Asia fed by the Hindu Kush-Himalaya (HKH) region. Poyang Lake has a deep legacy and affected many dynasties, cultures and their wealth and fate. Further, this region is a biodiversity hotspot of international relevance featuring fish abundances and major wintering sites for birds of international relevance, e.g. crane species (including the Siberian Crane), geese and songbirds. The status of this ecosystem is currently on the vast decline with water areas and amounts shrinking. Recent and modern upstream processes are a big driver of this situation such as the Three Gorges Dam and dykes, as well as new regional policies and activities related to farming, tourism, urbanization, sand mining. Poyang Lake plays a big international role and is to be considered in the globalization context if serious impacts like global change are to be handled in an effective and relevant measure to safeguard those landscapes and all its members.

by that lake, its wealth and dynamics. Many dynasties took that wealth of this vast wetland systems and lived from it. Poyang Lake had its ups and downs over time (e.g. Elvin 2006 ). However, it remains a major biodiversity hotspot (Wang et al. 2007 (Wang et al. , 2017 . But the environment is strongly changing and now drying, and thus its role and wealth is starting to decay (Zhang et al. , 2014 . Recent development plans for the area are presented (e.g. Duowen and Xueqing 2011), more are to come and all are well-known for impacts (Lai et al. 2014a) . Specifically, these impacts affect the ancient waterflow and subsequently the freshwater fisheries (see Fig. 6 .1), the local culture, and then also the wintering sites of arctic and asian migratory species. Those details will be elaborated in the next sections.

Poyang Lake is primarily fed through the rivers of Gan, Xin, and Xiu which are channeled through a canal by the Yangtze river. It starts from the Tangula Mountain region, app. 5, 170 m high, in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya region of Qinghai, China. The Yangtze river is the longest river in Asia running downhill from the HKH region to the Yellow Sea eventually. And before its water slows down -running from the mountains -eventually it accumulates in Poyang Lake. Several other large lakes and wetland systems are also linked with Poyang Lake and its watershed acting as a natural buffer. Those lakes are Daguan Lake, Longgan Lake, Changhu Lake, Pohu Lake, Huanghu Lake and Junshan Lake for instance. Eventually, several rivers from there end up in the Yellow Sea running by the famous and ancient cities like Kaifeng and Shanghai. These cities have a large human, often global, history and legacy (Elvin 2006) . The Yellow Sea -as a tidal mudflat system linking with the Chinese Sea -is not short of its own records but now also in big environmental troubles (MacKinnon et al. 2012) .

From deep time Poyang Lake is famous for its seasons and for the associated water fluctuations (Barzen 2012) . It is all part of an Asian life line that maintained parts of the global civilization easily for over four millennia (Elvin 2006) . The lake is also famous for ancient naval battels, as well as for ships getting lost there for mysterious reasons and never to be found again. There are many mysteries about this lake and its inherent processes. Irrigation projects have been carried out for centuries ( Fig. 6 .2). To no surprise Poyang Lake plays that big role in the Asian culture, and the HKH region upstream is a direct driver for this watershed, including its weather (some details in Fei et al. (2016) ). This is all a 'big deal' and not to be taken lightly.

But in modern time, many changes occurred for Poyang Lake. Already upstream, the Three Gorge Dams and the newly planned dykes that are to handle the water management are a problem and they present a major item of disturbance for the wider ecosystems by now. It's part of the Anthropocene. Those issue have received an international attention and are widely discussed (Guo et al. 2012; Feng et al. 2013; Lai et al. 2014a ) and for wider impacts ).

Dykes used for a safe water management leave many impacts, including road and development facilitations. Note: this area is directly used and frequented as a wintering site by the critically endangered Siberian Crane migrating from the High Arctic More complete assessments of the wider Poyang Lake situation do exist -entire research institutes are set up to tackle those issues already for decades -but those elaborations are primarily done in Chinese and can lack a western-style vetting and openly-discussed conservation view that most of the global community is usually used to and as it is commonly done for good performance. For instance, Poyang Lake awaits an assessment that is done with an Ecological Economics perspective (e.g. Daly and Farley 2010 ; see also Czech et al. 2000; Huettmann 2014 ). That's because it should be emphasized that most western-style research comes from an capitalistic ideology usually involving NGOs, whereas China pursues a marxist-leninist governance scheme and tends to run a different science concept and institution. Thus, aim, culture, perceptions and outcome do differ. But where there is less difference and good agreement is in the concept that wetlands are of global relevance and provide ecological services to the global community! Climate and migratory species are a good example for that, and so is food security, water supply, waste, contamination and ecological cleansing, or the human need to have recovery areas to engage with nature (Table 6 .1). The large water system of Poyang Lake was used by local fishermen in relatively low harvests for millennia. However, during different regimes these methods and concepts have changed: It went from wilderness to an indigenous and Asian feudal system to the Chinese empires, foreign dominations, and then, an almost centurylong communistic regime, and now, a new exploitive capitalistic development focus also using computing power and remote sensing as well as globalization (Diamond 1999; Elvin 2006) . Like elsewhere in the world, essentially a devastating cash See also https://www.iucn.org/content/poyang-lake-wetlands-management-report, https://www. savingcranes.org/poyang-lake-report/, https://www.ramsar.org/news/poyang-lake-and-the-statusof-chinese-wetlands economy now rules the resource management ( Fig. 6 .1, ). Another major impact came simply with monofilament (plastic) nets in the 1970s creating havoc in the ecosystem, e.g. small net sizes, bycatch and unregulated poaching all happening on a dramatic scale. And like elsewhere in Asia it is known that nets are not only used under water but also on land catching there songbirds (incidentally but in large and persistent numbers). In both cases, this is an indiscriminate catch and thus very devastating, specifically when it occurs on a vast landscape-scale without relevant enforcement to stop it entrenched as a culture and somewhat institutionalized in the 'status quo'. Such catching is still ongoing to this very day (see for instance recent campaign by Audubon Society http://www.audubon. org/magazine/ may-june-2014/fighting-bird-poachers-chinas-poyang-lake). Consequently, the natural resource pays the price. Primarily, that is the freshwater fish that gets reduced, but also several endangered species are among those, and certainly the ecosystem overall and virtually all of the ecological services. The finless porpoise, a small cetacean from the Yangtze River, is already heavily reduced and could get extinct (https://www.chinadialogue. net/article/show/ single/en/839-Poyang-Lake-savingthe-finless-porpoise; Fang et al. 2006 for context). Songbirds are in generic decline in Asia, especially in China (Jiao et al. 2016 ; see Kamp et al. 2015 for 90% population crashes). Another widely forgotten side-aspect are the millions of unnamed migratory waterbirds that make use of Poyang Lake as a resting and winter grounds. Simply by 'developing' Poyang Lake the wintering habitats for those species are sacrificed further, just like their food items. Such wilderness systems are on an overall and consistent decline, so are the surrounding areas, flyways and by now the atmosphere overall (Table 6 .2). But by now, not only the natural resource but the landscape itself is modified. This is due to the dykes, and the road systems, including housing, farming and tourism that is heavily encroaching further onto this ecosystem. In this context a surprising but destructive feature for outsiders might be sand mining (for details see here de Lai et al. 2014b ; see also maps presented online https://thecon-versation.com/the-world-is-facing-a-global-sand-crisis-83557). Aside of generic river bed destruction sand mining is said to be a major cause for the massive decline of the finless porpoise (https://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/ en/839-Poyang-Lake-saving-the-finless-porpoise). Other factors associated with those developments are the excessive use of herbicides, insecticides and pesticides (see Fig. 6 .3 for examples and evidence); many other parts of the world ban such type of use of those problematic substances and in that amount. It will leave impacts on the wider food chain, certainly on the food source for many species -insects and plankton -which the spraying is to reduce. Long-term impacts are not so well known, yet but one may assume they are very serious and to be pre-cautionary is suggested (Fig. 6.4, Table 6 .3).

The water levels of Poyang Lake are now dramatically in decline and the lake area shrinks accordingly (Zhang et al. 2014; Lai et al. 2014b ; see also Ives 2016) . Water is the essence of life and it's the very foundation of the Poyang Lake and its wider community at large. Much of this water comes from the HKH region, making the atmospheric and ocean links ('couplings'). But beyond the actual lack, and contamination of, water, and just to show how bad it has gotten, fishery bans are now also implemented and more are discussed. With that, a sustainable practice applied for millennia came to a halt.

Arguably, 'the law', or the international community did nothing really to stop it and just watches. It's the common pattern found throughout the world but it's widely ineffective (Table 6 .4; see also for instance Moores 2006 for Saemangeum and Yang et al. 2011 for Bohai Bay, and MacKinnon et al. 2012 for a wider overview in that part of Asia). This is fully in-line with the status of most migratory birds from the Arctic (Huettmann 2012) and for Asia (Jiao et al. 2016; MacKinnon et al. 2012 for habitats) . It also follows the generic pattern of climate change, which is plagued for decades by inefficiency and failure for progress. 

So where is Poyang Lake heading? Arguably, Poyang Lake is not turning back into wilderness, or into its early status, any time soon, e.g. Fig. 6 .5 for culturally entrenched and government-supported practices. Just too many development trends speak against it (Ma et al. 2009 ; Duowen and Xueqing 2011; Table 6 .5). Sullender et al. (2016) stated already: A synthesis view leaves no other forecast than one of wider destruction and ongoing decay. It matches many other environmental trends in the region, e.g. MacKinnon et al. (2012) for the Yellow Sea or even Liu et al. (2001) for Giant Panda habitat. It is difficult to assume that Poyang Lake will not follow what other wetlands in the world have already experienced in times of a dominating western globalization (Table 6 .6). Again, this is for one of THE major landscapes and wetlands in the Chinese and Asian history and with a global civilization legacy. Entire bird flyways rely on this wetland system. But with many development initiatives ongoing 'full steam', it will simply be 'hit' further while everybody watches it and until it reaches a point of no return…like we all have seen with most other wetlands and wilderness areas we are aware of (see Fig. 6 .6, Tables 6.5 and 6.6). It is clear that without relevant changes Poyang Lake, as we know it, as an undisturbed habitat and wilderness landscape with international relevance for a benign human society will disappear soon or later , and so will its' species, often on an international scale. The affiliated culture is equally in transition. Smaller enforcement of compliance might look and sound impressive but hardly can fix the problems anymore. Perhaps the destruction can be halted…in 100 years Most riparian forests are by now endangered; the vast majority was removed creating major problems with flooding due to missed buffering and cleaning capacities in the watersheds. Famous cases are found in rivers of the Danube, Donau and Rhine or more and some base features might remain by then. But even if local processes can get under control, the destructions upstream in the HKH region must also be addressed, namely globalization, dams, human expansion and climate change resulting into water loss, massive glacier melt and warming. And judged by the consistent but ongoing failures of climate agreement and COP meetings, and the dominance of neoliberal mind sets on global governance (e.g. Huettmann 2012, 2014) the real-world outlook to stop those processes seems to be slim for the next 100 years or so. This will all be very costly too (Wang et al. 2013 ). It's part of a wider western template of nature destruction . We shall see then what will remain under such global governance. Hope and spirituality appears like some of the best companions we have left thus far unless reason is allowed to act again in a good way.

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