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Conservation biology

Promising biodiversity recovery in the Yangtze River

volume 2, page 146 (2026)Cite this article

After stark freshwater-biodiversity declines in the Yangtze River basin between the 1950s and the 2010s, China implemented the Yangtze River Protection Law, which included a ten-year fishing ban among other restoration interventions. Writing in Science, Xiong and colleagues present initial evidence that the sweeping policy created effective conditions for biodiversity recovery.

Species with and without existing conservation concerns and management targets benefited from the policy, and the benefits extended beyond fish to other species in the food web (specifically, the finless porpoise). However, the persistence of major barriers (hydropower dams) prevented migratory species from benefiting from the policy intervention. These species still require additional targeted conservation measures. Although the analyses suggest that the fishing ban itself is the driver of most of these changes, the authors emphasize that no single policy intervention can achieve conservation goals for many species.

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References

Original article

  • Xiong, F. et al. Fishing ban halts seven decades of biodiversity decline in the Yangtze River. Science 391, 719–723 (2026)

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  1. Nature Reviews Biodiversity https://www.nature.com/nrbd/

    Alex McKay

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  1. Alex McKay
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Correspondence to Alex McKay.

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McKay, A. Promising biodiversity recovery in the Yangtze River. Nat. Rev. Biodivers. 2, 146 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44358-026-00145-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44358-026-00145-1

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