BEIJING, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Beijing plans to restore and add 11,000 hectares of wetlands between 2016 and 2020, local authorities said.
By 2020, 60 percent of the total wetlands in Beijing are expected to be under protection, the Beijing Municipal Gardening and Greening Bureau said in a statement.
Following years of protection, the Chinese capital has reached 51,400 hectares of wetland area, the agency said.
Of total, 23,800 hectares are natural wetlands, it said.
In 2016, Beijing added 2,280 hectares of wetlands after afforestation in the plain areas and ecosystem restoration in some river valleys.
Currently, Beijing has six wetland nature reserves and 10 wetland parks covering a total area of more than 20,000 hectares.
In recent years, Beijing authorities have been paying more attention to the environment, with enormous efforts being made on greening and pollution reduction.
