China will invest 16 billion yuan (2.6 billion U.S. dollars) to protect Sanjiangyuan, the cradle of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers in northwestern Qinghai Province.
English: Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, Qinghai,PRC. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The second phase for the ecological protection and restoration of Sanjiangyuan was officially launched on Friday.
According to the protection plan, the restoration area will be expanded to 395,000 sq km, or 54.6 percent of the total area of Qinghai.
Although the first stage has brought remarkable improvements, the overall ecological degradation of the area has not been fundamentally curbed, said Du Ying, vice director of the National Development and Reform Commission.
The second phase will involve protecting the environment, improving people\’s livelihoods and achieving coordinated economic, social and cultural development, said Li Xiaonan, a Qinghai official for the Sanjiangyuan project.
With an average altitude of 4,000 meters, the Sanjiangyuan region has long been a paradise for herders, rare wild animals such as the Tibetan antelope and medicinal herbs like the Tibetan snow lotus.
via China invests 2.6 bln USD to protect major riverheads – Xinhua | English.news.cn.
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