More than 5,000 people will be relocated in northeast China to protect a colony of red-crowned crane, a species of birds with a population of only 2,000 in the world.
The red-crowned crane is an important symbol in Chinese mythology, representing longevity and immortality.
Zhalong National Nature Reserve in Heilongjiang Province, covering 210,000 hectares, is China's largest artificial breeding centre for the cranes and home to about 20 per cent of its population.
According to Wang Wenfeng, a manager at the reserve, the only way to stop the deterioration of environment is to move the villagers out, all 5,396 of them.
Local people mainly live by fishing or by selling reeds in this area.
"Several decades ago, the water was clean. Fish and avifauna abounded. We were not worried about our lives," said Jia Huifang from Zhalong in west Heilongjiang.
"But now the water level has dropped and the fish are gone. Making a living is harder than before" state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Over 160 million yuan (around USD 26 million) of public money has been invested in the scheme and the search is on for land where the villagers can be resettled.
The first batch are due to be relocated before the winter of 2015. It is not known when will the last batch be moved out.
A common image in Chinese art is a hermit or reclusive scholar who cultivates bamboo and looks after cranes.
