Editor's note: As protection of the planet's flora, fauna and resources becomes increasingly important, China Daily is publishing a series of stories to illustrate the country's commitment to safeguarding the natural world.

A more than decadelong ecological engineering project by the nation's electricity supplier is mitigating the conflict between a rapidly expanding grid network and the habitats of wild birds.

At the Zhangye Heihe Wetland National Nature Reserve in Northwest China's Gansu province, transmission towers have been adapted to become a safe part of the ecosystem for birds such as storks, swans, egrets and herons, that call the wetland home for all or part of the year.

As Gansu lies at a key junction on the Central Asia–India migratory flyway, the province serves as a breeding and wintering ground for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds of more than 300 species.

Wetlands such as the Heihe River basin and forest–grassland zones like Ziwuling are critical ecological corridors.

Transmission networks have expanded across these landscapes in the city of Zhangye, now stretching over 16,000 kilometers in total.

As the grid expanded, a persistent conflict emerged. Birds nesting on towers or perching on conductors could trigger outages, while exposed wires posed lethal risks.

State Grid Gansu Electric Power Co has spent over 10 years adapting its equipment located in wildlife areas, using ecological engineering and smart technologies, so that the two can peacefully coexist.

"Bird nests on transmission towers used to give us headaches," said Liang Xingguang, a transmission line inspector in Zhangye. "Now, we take the initiative to build homes for them."

National electricity supplier State Grid launched the Life Nest project in 2016, with the aim of installing artificial nests and platforms so that wild birds would not be harmed by the grid's infrastructure.

Rolled out initially in the Sanjiangyuan region of Qinghai province, the project was later expanded across seven provinces including Gansu. By 2024, the program had completed nearly 6,600 km of field surveys, installed 5,314 artificial nests and 16 raptor platforms, and helped support the hatching of nearly 4,000 chicks.

In Zhangye, since 2022, engineers have deployed artificial nesting facilities across six high-risk transmission corridors. Around 140 artificial nests have been installed, with an occupancy rate of 26 percent, along with 12 relocated nests.

Developed with ornithologists, the artificial nests are tailored to species such as black storks, gray herons, kestrels and magpies. Built from natural rattan and lined with soft palm fiber, they are wind-resistant, insulated and positioned 20–30 meters above ground — close to natural nesting preferences, but safely away from live conductors.

"In the past, seeing a nest on a tower meant trouble," Liang said."Now, we build them on purpose."

When nests appear in hazardous positions, crews conduct live-line "gentle relocation", carefully transferring entire nests while preserving their structure and minimizing disturbance.

In cooperation with wildlife authorities in Zhangye's Ganzhou district, the program has also supported the release of 53 rehabilitated birds, reinforcing the shift from conflict mitigation to ecological facilitation.

Across key corridors, more than 30 km of transmission lines in the Heihe Wetland core zone have been wrapped in weather-resistant insulating sheaths — described by workers as "protective suits" for the grid.

"These materials withstand strong ultraviolet radiation and extreme temperature swings," said Shen Qi, a Zhangye transmission line inspector. "They fully cover exposed conductors and eliminate electrocution risks."

Since 2021, the State Grid has surveyed over 5,800 km of bird migration routes, organized nearly 1,300 joint patrols, and rescued more than 15,000 protected birds nationwide.

In Zhangye, these ecological standards have been embedded into grid planning, with transmission routes adjusted to avoid key migratory corridors through field investigations and wetland surveys.