Conservation 1 SOURCE · UNCORROBORATED ≈ONE LAKE/WETLAND (~85 KM²) Oct 18, 2026

Huangqihai Lake in Inner Mongolia restored to 85-square-kilometer wetland with fish returning.

Huangqihai Lake in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia, has been restored from a dry lakebed to an 85.22-square-kilometer wetland. Fish have returned after a 27-year absence and 168 bird species have been recorded. The restoration figures and wildlife counts come from local authorities and have not been independently verified.

HOW WE VERIFIED THIS

The verified claim: Huangqihai Lake in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia, has been restored from a dried-up lakebed in 2006 to an 85.22-square-kilometer wetland with fish returning in May 2025 after a 27-year absence and 168 bird species recorded.
What we checked: Reported by one outlet so far; we checked it against the source, but no second outlet has corroborated it yet.centralasiatimes.com
Confidence: Reasonably substantiated(0.60)
Caveats: Single Xinhua report carried by Central Asia Times; restoration figures and wildlife counts come from the local wetland administrative office and smart monitoring center without independent verification; current lake size is a September figure and long-term durability is not independently assessed.

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Why it matters

This demonstrates that a dried-up lake ecosystem can be restored to support its original fish and bird populations.

Read the full reporting

Read at centralasiatimes.com ↗

CHECKED · 1 SOURCE · UNCORROBORATED

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Huangqihai Lake in Inner Mongolia restored to 85-square-kilometer wetland with fish returning.

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