Nature Reserve to Be Established at Source of Pearl R.Southwest China's Yunnan Province plans to establish a nature reserve at the source of the Pearl River, the third longest in China, to protect the ecological environment at its headwaters.Preparatory work for the 200,000-ha swamp nature reserve is under way, officials in the Forestry Department of Yunnan Province said. The 2210-km Pearl River originates from Maxiong Mountain in Qujing City of Yunnan and flows across six administrative regions including Hong Kong and Macao. Qujing City established a county-level nature reserve in 1998, with an investment of 50 million yuan (six million US dollars). The city's forest coverage rate is 27 percent at present, and its soil erosion areas account for 49 percent of the total Pearl River Valleys. |
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