Tibet's eco-environment protection maintains sound momentum

15:28, July 31, 2009

A little snow leopard enjoys the sunshine at the Norbulingka Zoo, Tibet's capital of Lhasa, July 25, 2009. The zoo adopted this animal from the Tibet Autonomous Regional Forestry Bureau several days ago. The snow leopard, a rare species mainly populating Tibet and Xinjiang, has been listed class I national protected animal. (Xinhua Photo)

Tibet is making sound progress in regional eco-environmental protection, Tibetan anthropologist Dawa Tsering said Tuesday at the 16th International Conference of Anthropology and Ethnology held in Kunming.

"The number of endangered species like Tibetan antelopes, Bengal Tigers and snow leopards has been sharply increasing due to effective protection, such as the establishment of nature reserves," he said.

Tibet, the home to 150,000 Tibetan antelopes and 100,000 Tibetan gazelles, now has nine national nature reserves, covering an area of 401,000 sq km, or 33.4 percent of the entire regional territory.

Dawa said he had ever seen such a spectacular scene of 300 wild yaks crossing a grassland at any one time. "The population of some species has grown so large that they almost pose a threat to local grass resources. They even seek food with domestic animals."

For those mistaking Tibet for being sparsely-vegetated, Dawa explained that with a forested area of 7.17 million hectares, Tibet has the nation's largest forestry reserves of 2.29 billion cubic m, 96 percent of which are primitive or natural secondary forests.

In 2003, China launched a project costing 590 million yuan (71.39 million U.S. dollars) to protect the natural forests in the upper stretch of the Yangtze River, including 30,000 sq km of forested area in the Chin-sha River Valley.

By the end of 2005, the Tibet Autonomous Regional government had banned all illegal and unqualified mining spots.

Meanwhile, projects to restore reclaimed lands to grasslands have been implemented in pastoral zones, having relieved the contradictions between grass supply and domestic animals.

Along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, 33 passages have been set up for wild creatures. "Besides scenery views, the railway has become an eco-tourist route, contributing to local eco-environment protection."

Source: Xinhuanet