Plan to save Qinghai Lake launched
An ambitious campaign has been launched to reverse environmental degradation around the mainland's largest inland saltwater lake within 10 years.
The central-government-funded programme of environmental protection and rehabilitation around Qinghai Lake , on the vast Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, was also aimed at protecting the Himalayan region, Xinhua reported.
The 1.56 billion yuan programme will relocate more than 4,100 Tibetan herdsmen and nearly 1 million sheep and yaks, and remove most permanent buildings around the lake, which is shrinking due to rising temperatures.
Covering 276,600 hectares of wetland and 521,200 hectares of degenerated grassland, the programme plans to reclaim advancing desert areas near the lake by planting vegetation on sand dunes and former farmland.
Xinhua said it would also include cleaning up six rivers leading to the lake, dismantling a hydroelectric power plant nearby and setting up safe drinking water facilities for 36,700 people in four Qinghai counties around the lake.
While more than 90 per cent of the investment would be spent on preserving the local environment, and biodiversity, authorities have promised to help resettle local people and improve their living standards with the rest of the money.
Wang Zhicai , a senior official with the Ministry of Agriculture, said the programme was essential to protect the environment around the lake and stop degradation.
Qinghai Lake serves as a critical refuge for many endangered animals and plants. Experts have warned that the lake is in an ecological crisis from global warming, booming tourism and other human activity.
The water level of the lake has dropped nearly 3.8 metres in the past 50 years, with its area being reduced by 362 sq km.
