Missing for 20 years, then a reappearance in the skies
the session, said that in Japan environmental deterioration and a lack of government action was to blame for the birds’ loss, and Yangxian county has learned from the mistakes.
All descendants of the crested ibis are offspring of the seven birds found in Yangxian county in 1981, and experts continue to look for ways to ensure that genetic issues do not compromise the bird’s ability to produce healthy offspring and thus limit its propagation.
The recent publication of the book’s Chinese version has put the crested ibis back on the agenda, Chen said, and he called for more attention to measures aimed at protecting it.
People should preserve their habitats, which will lead to the conservation of many other species living in the area, He said, leading in turn to an improvement in the environment that will benefit humans.
“The rescue and preservation of crested ibises is powerful proof of China’s commitment to strengthening and improving the natural environment, and an important achievement of biodiversity conservation,” Liu said in a short documentary about him in 2018. Nowadays, conservation efforts have been helping local economies both in Yangxian county and Sado Island, the last major habitat of crested ibises in Japan.
Farm products grown without pesticides or low doses of them there such as rice and black rice, and related products like rice wine, are welcomed by a growing market.
“Birds have wings, borders are not barriers,” said Haruo Sato, the book’s central character and one who devoted most of his lifetime to protecting crested ibises.
China and Japan have worked together to protect the species since 1985, and China has sent crested ibises to Japan and South Korea. The protection of transboundary species requires people to put aside their conflicts and pursue a common goal, He said. Zhuang Miaomiao of Xi’an, a Chinese-Japanese interpreter and a promoter of the protection work for eight years, says she has been moved by the meticulous work of Japanese experts who pitched in without reserve to help their Chinese counterparts. Protecting the crested ibis has become a mission that both countries are firmly committed to, she says.