Rachel Hou/Shanghai Daily news

Chinese scientists suspect that destructive human activity in wetlands, a vital habitat for migratory birds, has contributed to outbreaks of bird flu in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, today's China Youth Daily reported.
It seems more than just coincidence that all nine outbreaks of bird flu reported in the region last year occurred in villages near wetlands.
Although there is no direct evidence supporting the presumption that avian flu virus jumps from migratory birds to poultry when villagers pasture them in wetlands, scientists are concerned that significant human activity is encroaching on the roosting places of migratory birds, and fear frequent contact between humans, poultry and wild birds may lead to bird flu outbreaks.
Avian flu virus has long been present in migratory birds. Although the cause of bird flu outbreaks is still unknown, it is certain that "lakes and wetlands act as buffers that protect human beings from direct contact with the migrants, which possibly carry avian flu virus," said Gu Jinghe, a researcher at the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, a unit of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Last November, a bird flu outbreak was reported in villages near Lake Qinggeda, a reservoir surrounded by 30 square kilometers of wetlands. The wetlands, which support tens of thousands of migratory birds each year, have already been devastated by human activities like pasturing, hunting and reclamation.
According to Xia Yudong, director of the nature reserve at Lake Qinggeda, more than 300 hectares of wetlands have been reclaimed for farming already. A plan to reclaim another 200 hectares was thwarted by the nature reserve authorities last year.
"The Qinggeda lake is diminishing in size," said Wang Chuanbo, a bird lover who visits the wetlands to watch migratory birds every spring.
Xinjiang is on a key migratory route. Many wetlands and lakes in the region, including the Yili, Bosten and Tarim lakes, serve as roosting places for migratory birds.