China’s mightiest river is coming back from the brink

THE MIGHTY Yangtze, running 6,300km from the Tibetan plateau to Shanghai, is sometimes known as China’s “mother river”. Yet it was not always treated with much respect. Sewage and industrial waste were poured into its waters. Millions of tonnes of fish were dragged out. Mega-dams clogged up its channels. It was all too much for some of the Yangtze’s most wondrous inhabitants. The baiji, a white-bellied, nearly sightless dolphin, is probably extinct; so is the gigantic, sword-nosed paddlefish. But not all the damage is permanent. Asia’s longest river is now making a remarkable comeback.The Chinese Communist Party, once famous for pillaging from the natural world, has set to protecting parts of it. (FILE AFP)Sweeping protection measures in place since 2021 seem to be aiding a recovery. Fish