Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China

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Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China: A Vital Stopover for Millions of Waterbirds

The Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China constitute a significant extension to the existing World Heritage Site of the same name. This expansive region, situated within the Yellow Sea Ecoregion, plays a pivotal role in supporting crucial habitats for birds traversing the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF). Spanning over 25 countries from the Arctic to Southeast Asia and Australasia, the EAAF is one of the world's most extensive flyways, with these Chinese sanctuaries serving as vital stopover sites for millions of waterbirds.

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UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site

The Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China is a serial extension of the property of the same name already inscribed on the World Heritage List. As part of the world’s largest intertidal wetland system, this area within the Yellow Sea Ecoregion supports crucial habitats for birds migrating on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway which spans some 25 countries from the Arctic to South-East Asia and Australasia. The wetlands serve a unique ecological function as indispensable stopover sites for many millions of waterbirds and represent a significant example of the shared natural heritage embodied in migratory birds.

UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site

Criterion (x): The Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China support more than 400 species of birds. The property’s tidal flats are of exceptional importance for the conservation of the world’s migratory birds, supporting internationally significant numbers of migratory bird species, including globally threatened species. The component parts of the Migratory Bird Habitat in the South of Yancheng, Jiangsu and the Migratory Bird Habitat in the North of Yancheng, Jiangsu alone are significant for more than 10% of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway populations and provide critical habitat for two of the world’s rarest migratory birds – the Spoon-billed Sandpiper and the Nordmann’s Greenshank, which depend on the tidal flats for their continued survival. The wetlands within the Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea Bohai Gulf of China serve a unique ecological function as indispensable stopover and staging sites that provide necessary food resources, ensuring fat replenishment and storage for subsequent flights during northward/southward migration. Without these important hubs, the successful migration, breeding, and population maintenance of birds in the flyway could not be maintained. In addition to providing stopover habitat for migratory birds, the component parts also include wintering areas and breeding areas for at least 45 threatened bird species including shorebirds, waterfowl, and raptors. The property’s tidal flats also provide important migratory habitat for the threatened Black-faced Spoonbill, Oriental Stork, Red-crowned Crane and Great Knot; the Chinese Egret, Dalmatian Pelican, Swan Goose, Relict Gull and Saunders’s Gull. The property also supports further migratory bird species, including the Red Knot, Asian Dowitcher, Black-tailed Godwit, Eurasian Curlew, Reed Parrotbill, Curlew Sandpiper, Greater Sand Plover, Lesser Sand Plover and Ruddy Turnstone. Other migratory birds that utilise the property include the Eurasian Oystercatcher, Pied Avocet, Grey Plover, Kentish plover, Far Eastern Curlew, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, Sanderling, Dunlin, Terek Sandpiper, and Common Tern. The property also hosts large numbers of zoobenthos and fish species as well as important mammal, amphibian and reptile species, all part of the coastal ecosystems the migratory birds depend on.

Encyclopedia Record: Yellow Sea

The Yellow Sea, also known as the North Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea.

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IUCN World Heritage Outlook

The 2025 Conservation Outlook on Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China reports the following assessment:

Source: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) · View assessment