The Jilin provincial government decided to relocate more than 800 residents in the Xiangdong National Nature Reserve to make way for rare birds during this year's annual legislative and political consultative sessions in February.

"Illegal reclamation remains a serious threat for the habitat of the birds," said An Guiwu, mayor of Baicheng city where the reserve is located. "Ecological relocation will reduce human destruction of the wetlands in the reserve and help preserve the habitat for the birds.

"The city will also embrace new opportunities for ecological tourism because of the improving environment and increasing birds."

Located in western Jilin, the reserve covers an area of more than 100,000 hectares and is home to a range of rare birds under national protection, including red-crowned cranes and white storks.

The relocated residents will be compensated for their housing and farmland, and the project will be completed this year, according to the provincial government.

More than 3,600 hectares of arable land will be restored to nature.

As the local environment has improved in recent years, the number of red-crowned cranes in the reserve has increased from 70 in 2009 to more than 130. Nearly 1,000 white swans chose to live in the reserve last spring.

Neighboring Heilongjiang province also relocated more than 5,000 residents from the Zhalong National Reserve last year in an effort to preserve the habitat for rare birds, according to media reports.