Dalai Lake National Nature Reserve, Inner Mongolia. 11/01/02; Inner Mongolia; 740,000 ha; 48°33’N 117°30’E; National Nature Reserve, UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. A complex of lakes, rivers, marshes, shrubs, grasslands and reed beds typical of wetlands in arid steppes, in near-natural conditions. A staging area in the East Asian-Australasian Shorebird Flyway, the site is important for some 284 bird species, particularly Anatidae and shorebird species, and exceeds the 20,000 individuals and 1% thresholds for six species. Some 30 fish species are supported, of both Siberian and Northeast China types, and some are economically important. The Dalai Lake region, as the only lower land of the Hulunbeir Plateau, has great significance for flood storage, sediment retention, and groundwater recharge, and is critical for maintaining regional climate. Tourism offers birdwatching, boating, and traditional Mongolian foods, customs, and cultures, and the area is becoming a center for environmental education and research. Fishing is the primary activity, accounting for some 10,000 tons of economic fish per year, and livestock grazing in surrounding grasslands involves more than 2 million animals. Due to the decrease in precipitation in recent years, water supply has decreased and thus reduced the water level of the lake. The reserve became a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2002. Ramsar site no. 1146. Most recent RIS information: 2008.