A panoramic view of Haokun Lake National Wetland Park. [Photo/bsyjrb.com]

Haokun Lake National Wetland Park is located in Lingyun Yao autonomous county. It consists of karst cave wetlands, permanent freshwater lakes, and herbaceous swamps. The total area is 1,312 hectares, of which the wetland area is 459.1 hectares.

According to the characteristics of the wetland ecosystem, Haokun Lake Wetland Park is divided into five functional areas: a wetland conservation area, a restoration and reconstruction area, a publicity and education display area, a rational development and utilization area, as well as a management service area.

The wetland conservation area is the main area for the distribution of endemic rare fish and zonal vegetation. It consists of karst underground rivers, the waters of Lake Haokun, and the Karst Rocky Mountains, covering an area of 1,065.5 hectares, accounting for 81.2 percent of the park’s total area. Its projects focus on cave fish habitat protection, zonal vegetation protection and restoration, as well as water quality protection and monitoring.

The wetland hydrological and biological habitats are restored in the restoration and reconstruction area through projects spanning waterfront wetland vegetation restoration and Stone Mountain vegetation restoration.

The publicity and education display area mainly displays wetland ecology and wetland culture, as well as environmental protection education.

The rational development and utilization area is about 141.2 hectares, of which the wetland area accounts for 8.6 percent of the total wetland area. It carries out eco-tourism activities like lakeside recreation, landscape excursions, karst caves and Tiankeng experiences, as well as ethnic cultural displays to improve public awareness and fully create comprehensive benefits of the wetlands.