Islands of Shanghai

This growth caused it to absorb the former island of Yonglongsha, creating a long pene-exclave of Jiangsu on its northern shore administered as the townships of Haiyong and Qilong.

[7][9] These shoals and the waters surrounding them to a depth of 6 meters or 20 feet (occupying an additional 308.6 km2 or 119.2 sq mi) form the Jiuduansha Wetland Nature Reserve, a nationally-protected area of Shanghai.

[7] The shoals began forming during the Yangtze floods of the late 1940s and early 1950s,[7] but were developed and protected as a replacement for the wetlands of eastern Pudong during the construction of Shanghai's international airport in the 1990s.

[10] The cordgrass introduced in 1995 has succeeded in stabilizing the shoals but is now considered to be highly invasive, displacing the native reeds and bullrushes[11][12] and degrading parts of the wetlands.

[10] A wetland museum, as well as a Science Popularization Park on about 5 square kilometers (1.9 sq mi) of the island, are planned to increase public awareness and support.