Join us this Friday, October 18, as we invite Prof. Zhong Dongsheng from Shanghai's Ocean Science University to understand his plans to set up a bird nature reserve where Tesla wants to build its China headquarters.

His talk will be accompanied with stunning pictures taken by one of Shanghai's foremost birders, Dr. Kai Pflug.

Yangtze River Delta's Biodiversity

The Economist recently wrote that Brazil has the power to save the Amazon​ – the world's greatest forest.

Without doubt, as every nation has the power to save its natural heritage, so does China have the power to save the Yangtze River Delta's biodiversity.

Ecology uses anatomical analogies to make us understand how our planet operates. Every child knows that the Amazonian rain forest is for the planet what the lungs are to the human body.

Fewer people know that the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) is to the planet what the kidneys are to the human body: one of the world's largest wetlands and as such a natural purification and filtering system of sweet water.

Wetlands are also called the cradle of life, because they provide habitat to a huge variety of species without which human life would not have been able to evolve.

Plants provide for insects, insects for amphibians, crustaceans and fish, and all of the former to birds and mammals.

The YRD is moreover in an ecologically important location, because it sits on one of the world's largest bird migration routes: the Asian-Australasian flyway which passes through 22 countries with approximately 55 migratory species travelling along it, equating to about 5 million birds.

China's rapid urbanization and the resulting surface sealing with buildings and roads has led to a threatening decrease in wetland habitat. Bird species which have been resting for millions of years in the YRD on their long journey from as far north as Siberia to as far south as New Zealand are increasingly endangered.

Two Large Corporate Investments

Two large corporate investments highlight the human focus on economic growth and the ignorance towards the natural resources which are the very basis of our existence on this planet. Tesla​ broke ground for its USD 5 billion China production facilities in Nanhui, one of the last natural bird sanctuaries along Shanghai's coastline. Huawei​ has obtained a 2000 mu (1,3 mio m2) large plot south of Dianshan Lake in Qingpu districtto set up its East China R&D headquarters. It will invest USD 1.4 billion to house up to 40.000 employees who will work in the heart of a delicate wetland ecosystem which provides two thirds of Shanghai's freshwater.

Both projects cause serious concerns to ornithologists and environmentalists who anticipate irreversible damage to wildlife and the ecosystem. Nanhui is one of the most important stepping-stones of the bird flyaway along the coast of East Asia. 416 bird species have been recorded in this area making it the No.1 birding site in mainland China according to ebird.org​.

Join us this Friday, October 18, as we invite Prof. Zhong Dongsheng from Shanghai's Ocean Science University to understand his plans to set up a bird nature reserve where Tesla wants to build its China headquarters.

His talk will be accompanied with stunning pictures taken by one of Shanghai's foremost birders, Dr. Kai Pflug.

His talk will be accompanied with stunning pictures taken by one of Shanghai's foremost birders, Dr. Kai Pflug.

Further reading:

• Tesla Shanghai investment on SCMP​

• Huawei Shanghai investment on HuaweiCentral​

Fresh Start Shanghai is a volunteer club which explores social innovation for future good. Fresh Start is part of Rotary international, a global network of 1.2 million who envision a world where people unite to create lasting change.

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