Court halts Blue Bay project to protect bird habitats

Editor's Note: As protection of the planet's flora, fauna and resources becomes increasingly important, China Daily is publishing a series of stories to illustrate the country's commitment to safeguarding the natural world. Judicial ruling The site was approved as the construction area for the Jiangsu Lianyungang Blue Bay Remediation Project, with a budget exceeding 1.8 billion yuan. However, construction at the site was recently halted by a court order after the Friends of Nature Environment Institute, a Beijing-based grassroots environmental nongovernmental organization, brought the project to court, contending that it was damaging the foraging grounds of migratory birds. On Jan 4, the Nanjing Intermediate People's Court in Jiangsu ruled that the project poses a real risk of ecological damage and should cease construction until gaining further legal approval. The head of Spoon-billed Sandpiper in China, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of migratory water birds — especially the critically endangered bird that gave it its name — Li is familiar with the area because she and her team members regularly monitor migrating waterbirds along eastern China's coastline.