Court halts Blue Bay project to protect bird habitats

Workers with Spoon-billed Sandpiper in China count birds at the Blue Bay project site in Lianyungang, Jiangsu, in 2020. HE TAO/FOR CHINA DAILY Stopping construction Public information indicates Blue Bay is an ecological restoration project. The city government proposed the construction of the "Blue Bay" in Lianyungang New City, with the project to be undertaken by Jinhaian Development and Construction Co. The environmental assessment report shows that the project will effectively convert the ecological advantages of Lianyungang into economic benefits, bringing a series of environmental and ecological benefits, including significant improvement in seawater quality, providing excellent living space and breeding habitat for various wetland organisms and effectively curbing environmental degradation trends. In April 2021, the NGO filed a public interest civil lawsuit with the Nanjing Intermediate People's Court, suing Jinhaian Development and Construction Co and the environmental assessment unit of Nanjing Normal University's Environmental Science and Technology Research Institute, requesting the stoppage of all construction activities, elimination of the ecological damage risk, ecological restoration of the damaged area and compensation.