Guangdong Neilingding Futian National Nature Reserve: Star Wetland for People

Futian Mangrove Reserve is located northeast of Shenzhen Bay, with a total area of 367.64 hectares. It is the smallest and the only national reserve in the urban hinterland in China, and was included in The List of Wetlands of International Importance in 2022.

As a protected area of the mangrove ecosystem and water birds, Futian Mangrove Forest is an important overwintering place and recharge site for migratory birds along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, with nearly 100,000 water birds overwintering or recharging here every year, covering 275 species of birds as recorded by far. Shenzhen Bay is an important overwintering place for black-faced spoonbills. The 2024 International Black-faced Spoonbill Census showed that the number of black-faced spoonbills in Shenzhen Bay was 375, accounting for about 5.37% of the global total. Other common migratory birds include herons, cormorants, black-headed gulls, shovelers, avocets, and redshanks.

Futian in Shenzhen and Mai Po in Hong Kong are the birthplaces of the Deep Bay mangrove wetlands of rich biodiversity, including about 20 species of mangrove plants in Futian Mangrove Reserve.