WWF-protecting the Finless Porpoise

The deterioration of aquatic environments along the Yangtze River has led to a decline in the populations of many species. The finless porpoise, a kind of freshwater dolphin is among them. To protect the species, the WWF has initiated a project which aims to collect baseline data and promote the protection of the species. Environmental protection enthusiasts from many universities have submitted their proposals.

Our reporter Li Dong has the details.

This summer vacation, the WWF initiated a project which supports teams from different universities in efforts to undertake research into the habitats of the finless porpoise and promote awareness regarding its protection.

So far, altogether, 16 environmental protection teams from Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan provinces have passed the inital phase of their applications and after receiving some training, these teams will implement their proposals in August and September.

A panel of experts will evaluate each team's performance and the winning team will be announced by the end of the year.

Hong Xiufeng is a third-year student. She is the head of the Environmental Protection Association at An Hui University. Their research will be conducted mainly in Tong Ling, a habitat for the finless porpoise.

Hong Xiufeng says her team is going to make the best use of their geographical advantage.

"There is a national level nature reserve for freshwater dolphins in Tong Ling, An Hui province. This makes it possible for us to have close contact to the finless porpoise. We have been cooperating with the nature reserve since 2009 and this is the third consecutive year we have done related research. As far as we know, there are ten finless porpoises in this area. This means they are facing the threat of inbreeding. We plan to go to villages and interview fishermen. I believe we can acquire some first hand data."

Li Xiuyuan is a student from Ho Hai University. She is the head of the Technology & Technique Association. Their work has mainly focused on undertaking surveys in Nanjing, to gauge the level of public awareness in regard to protecting the species. Liu Xiuyuan says that their survey project is more comprehensive than the requirements that the WWF has stipulated. She also says that it's part of a bigger picture.

"We plan to do 5,500 surveys in Nanjing. That's 11 times the number required by the WWF. Because Nanjing is such a big city, it has 11 districts. If we do only 50 for each district, the sample size is definitely insufficient for a formal scientific survey. In regards to promoting environmental protection awareness, we believe that just focusing on protecting the finless porpoise is too limited, because this is about the deterioration of the entire water environment. Only when people's awareness of protecting the water environment is enhanced can the species be protected. So we are going to combine the two subjects together in the promotion work we will undertake later."

Currently, the 16 teams are busy preparing their work and after the data collection phase, they will promote the protection of the finless porpoise via different methods, such as video clips, Weibo, and other interactive activities among the public.

The winning team is scheduled to be announced by the end of the year.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.