Shanghai
URBAN DEVELOPMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES
Shanghai has the world’s largest port and a population of 24.2 million, including a transient population of more than 2 million.
Shanghai also has various types of natural wetlands, which account for 23.5% of its total area (3.2*106 ha). Chongming Island is located in northern Shanghai at the mouth of the Yangtze River and is the largest estuarine alluvial island in the world. The east beach of the island (Dongtan wetland, a designated Ramsar site) serves as one of the most important stopovers for migrating water birds in the East AsianAustralasian Flyway and provides spawning and feeding grounds for many species. Culturally, Dongtan wetland is an attractive destination for ecotourism and nature education while supporting an important fisheries economy.
ENVIRONMENTAL PRESSURES
Shanghai experiences rapid urbanisation, high traffic pollution, extremely high population density (the highest in China) and a very low proportion of public green space (only 1/3 of the average level of developed cities). The hot and humid summer weather combined with the dense urban fabric has evolved into an urban heat island disaster.
Nitrogen and phosphorus pollution cause significant eutrophication of water bodies. Many species in Shanghai have become extinct.
Chongming Island has in the last decades suffered from serious wetland loss, deterioration, and fragmentation, including frequent intertidal wetland reclamation for urbanisation, Spartina invasion, and artificial wetland alterations for agricultural purposes.
NBS IN FOCUS
Shanghai aims to develop into an “Ecological City” – construction and protection of green land, forestland, and wetland across Shanghai, the Three Land Project (TLP) are the main NBSs to raise Shanghai to an Ecological City. REGREEN activities will support Shanghai in:
Exploring TLP contribution to mitigating negative effects of urbanisation, including air pollution, vegetation decline, loss of biodiversity, and heat island effects
Estimating the ecosystem services and benefits and values from TLP
Post-evaluating and monitoring the efficiency and impacts of the 2013 large-scale eco-habitat restoration of the Chongming Dongtan Wetland, constructing habitats and revegetating intertidal flats with native species to counter the Spartina invasion and improve biodiversity
ULL ACTIONS
- Preparing a wetland field practice base for college students and ecological education summer camp of Eco-Chongming for middle school students
- Organising bird-watching tourism and mangrove planting activities for local stakeholders, letting them make postevaluation of the restoration project, including increase of bird habitats and heterogeneous visualisation of wetland landscape
ULL OUTPUTS
- Analysis of dynamic pressures and trends in urbanisation and ecosystem services of GI over 35 years in Shanghai using remote sensing
- Models of ecosystem services and values of GI in Shanghai over 35 years using remote sensing
- Google Earth Engine (GEE) based remote sensing classification algorithm for TLP
- Evidence on impacts and cost-effectiveness of large-scale ecosystem restoration projects
- In-depth evidence of citizen preferences and values towards enhanced biodiversity and ecosystem integrity
- Guidelines for integrating knowledge and evidence on benefits from NBS in planning and governance
REGREEN SHANGHAI ULL PARNET
- Fudan University & Shanghai University of International Business and EconomicsStay in touch
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