Authorities in Shenzhen recently rejected a parkgoer’s suggestion to install more streetlights in a city park, citing concerns over migratory bird welfare, reported Xinhua News Agency. The move has earned praise from netizens and senior statespeople, it noted.
The Shenzhen Municipal Parks Administration Center reasoned that adding too many bright lights in the Shenzhen Bay Park would interfere with migratory birds’ wintering habitat and migration patterns, the outlet reported. Shenzhen Bay sits at the midpoint of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, one of the world’s eight major migratory bird routes, and is a critical stopover location.
This is not the first time officials for the Shenzhen Bay Park have rejected parkgoers’ suggestions due to animal welfare reasons. Southern Metropolis Daily reported that not long ago, park management also rejected calls to allow visitors to feed the seagulls, stating that it would cause health problems for the birds and affect their ability to forage in the wild.
From October to February each year, nearly 100 species of migratory birds stop over and forage in Shenzhen Bay. Last year, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported that during this period, most parks in the city turn off their lights upon closing at 11pm to reduce disturbance to migratory birds and nocturnal animals.
Some areas near the bay have also modified their lighting to protect migratory birds. On Binhai Avenue, a major expressway near the Futian Mangrove Ecological Park, authorities made adjustments to newly installed streetlights months after volunteers and citizens voiced concerns over the lights being too bright and affecting the resting and migration of such birds, the Yangcheng Evening News reported last month.
In Shenzhen Bay Park, basic lighting has been retained at the main entrances, traffic nodes and some core walkways of the park to meet the needs of parkgoers, Xinhua quoted the Shenzhen Municipal Parks Administration Center as saying.
Read Dialogue Earth’s previous analysis of Chinese cities’ light pollution policies and their impacts on migratory birds.