The People's Congress of Heilongjiang Province is now accelerating legislation on protecting two major nature reserves in the province- the Wudalianchi Global Geopark and the Xingkai Lake.

On a conference on Monday, the provincial legislature examined the two drafts on protecting the two places.

It is the first time for Heilongjiang to draft local laws aimed at protecting regional nature reserves.

The draft on protecting the Xingkai Lake national nature reserve says that nobody shall be allowed to enter the core area except the reserve's staff.

The indigenous residents should move out of the core area and the farmland in the area will be returned to wetlands and forests. Hunting, lumbering and fishing will be banned in the core area.

The draft on protecting the Wudalianchi Global Geopark bans all commercial activities and constructions in the park's core area.

Projects that might cause pollution will all be closed to ensure the quality of the park's famous mineral water. No tourists are allowed into the core area without approval from the park's authorities.

The Xingkai Lake, with an area of 4,380 square kilometres, is a boundary lake between China and Russia. It is a national nature reserve and national geopark. The lake and the neighbouring areas are one of the three largest wetlands in the world.

The Wudalianchi Global Geopark is located 300 kilometres north of the provincial capital of Harbin. It has the world's most typical volcano groups and is called the "volcano museum of China." It has a beautiful lake with high-quality mineral water.

In recent years, the two places have witnessed considerable damage because of excessive exploitation.

Many of the volcanoes in the Wudalianchi Geopark have been damaged and lake water polluted. The wetlands near the Xingkai Lake have shrunk to a large extent and the number of wild animals and birds have kept declining.

Source:China Daily