Members of environment protection groups from 12 higher-education institutions in China's Yangtze River valley areas began wetland protection training courses on Sunday.

More than 100 participants will act as "wetland emissaries" at the end of the course, which is offered at Wuhan University in the capital city of central China's Hubei Province, as they travel to lake areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River to launch a campaign to protect local wetland.

The campaign was jointly sponsored by the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF), China's State Forestry Administration, and the Yangtze River administrative committee of fishery resources.

The campaign aims to increase the public's awareness of the important roles of lakes in coordinating economic development and environment protection in valley areas of the river.

Economic growth and water conservancy projects have led to the blocking of water passages of the Yangtze River to lakes located in the valley areas, greatly reducing wetland areas, damaging local ecological systems and reducing the anti-flood capacity of the river.

The annual emissary activity was initiated in 2001 and is expected to boost wetland protection and sustained economic development in the Yangtze River area.

(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2003)