BEIJING: China plans to invest about USD 2.63 billion to protect the fragile eco-system on the Tibet plateau, an official said as the glaciers in the remote Himalayan region were shrinking at an alarming rate.
The plan covers a dozen projects on protection and construction of eco-system on the Tibet plateau, a main part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, dubbed the "Roof of the World", an official with the development and reform commission of the Tibet Autonomous Region said in Lhasa on Sunday.
These projects, costing 20 billion yuan (USD 2.63 billion) include construction of nature reserve, protection of natural forest, restoration of grassland and pasture, harnessing and prevention of desertification and prevention of geological disasters.
The plan, to be approved soon, will last for about 20 years. "In the first five years, the investment from the central government will total 7 to 8 billion yuan," the official said. Tibet plateau boasts various kinds of plants and vegetation due to various landforms and different weather conditions. Tibet is a region with the most typical biological diversity and is a major gene bank ensuring global biodiversity.
However, the local eco-system is very fragile and difficult to recover once it is damaged. The plan will play an important role in helping recover and protect the ecological system on Tibetan plateau, the official from the top planning body of Tibet said.
Analysts say that the implementation of the national plan will help ease the pressure posed by global warming on local ecological environment and could ensure sustainable development in the region.
Previous reports, quoting Chinese experts, said that global warming is taking a toll on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in southwest China, and experts say the symptoms include shrinking glaciers, frozen earth melting, grasslands turning yellow and rivers drying up.
Climate change has shrunk the size of wetlands in Tibet at the source of China's two longest rivers, the Yangtze and the Yellow River, reducing the volume of water flowing in the rivers, Chinese scientists said last week.
Scientists from the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) studied changes over the past 40 years to the wetlands on the cold Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in west China where the two rivers have their source.
Analysing aerial photos and satellite remote sensing figures, they found that the wetlands on the plateau have shrunk more than 10 per cent over the past four decades.
The wetlands at the origin of the Yangtze River suffered the most, contracting by 29 per cent. In addition, about 17.5 per cent of the small lakes at the source of the Yangtze River have dried up, the scientists said.
On June four, China issued its first national plan to address climate change. The plan said the country hopes to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 50 million tonnes by 2010 through the development of hydro power projects
