Patrollers at Xiaogang lake-patroller station in Honghu, C China's Hubei
Xinhua
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Staff members of the Xiaogang lake-patroller station patrol the Honghu Lake in Honghu City, central China's Hubei Province, Aug. 15, 2018. (Photos: Xinhua)
Staff members of the Xiaogang lake-patroller station observe the Honghu Lake in Honghu City, central China's Hubei Province, Aug. 15, 2018.
Honghu Lake, Hubei Province's biggest lake, is "a place better than paradise" with abundant fish, rice, lotus and ducks, says a popular Chinese folk song.
This was true until overfishing ruined the 41,000-hectare wetland. To revive Honghu, local government has taken a series of protective measures.
Water quality has largely been rehabilitated, and the number of wild birds living here has risen from 2,000 to more than 100,000.
Fan Hexun (L), a staff member of the Xiaogang lake-patroller station, rests in his room on a boat in the Honghu Lake in Honghu City, central China's Hubei Province, Aug. 15, 2018.
A total of 12 patrollers work at the Xiaogang lake-patroller station, one of the three stations in the Honghu Lake to protect the water, plants and wild birds.
Li Zanhua (L) and Hu Guohua, staff members of the Xiaogang lake-patroller station, work at the office on a boat in the Honghu Lake in Honghu City, central China's Hubei Province, Aug. 15, 2018.
They work in rotation in a team of five members guarding a water area of 17,000 hectares around the clock.
Living and working on two boats, they struggle the harsh living condition to protect the ecological environment of the Honghu Lake.