China to Establish Three Rivers' Fountainheads Nature ReserveOn August 19, the Ministry of Agriculture will hold the opening ceremony for the Three-river Source Nature Reserve in Qinghai province's Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.This will be China's largest nature reserve and protect the sources of the Yangtze River, Yellow River and Lancang River. President Jiang Zemin has written the name of the reserve "Three Rivers Source Nature Reserve" in calligraphy to be used as a sign in front of the reserve. The source of the three rivers in Qinghai province cover an area of 362,000 square kilometers and is located, on average, 4,000 meters above sea level. It is estimated that 25% of the Yangtze River, 49% of the Yellow River and 15% of the Lancang River originate from this source. At the same time, this area has the highest concentration of biologically diverse high altitude animals in the world. There are more than 70 different species indigenous to Qinghai and Tibet including Tibetan antelopes and Tibetan wild donkeys. The Three Rivers Source Nature Reserve covers 318,000 square kilometers with the core area covering 620,000 square kilometers, buffer zone covering 50,000 square kilometers and experiment area covering 206,000 square meters. This is the largest nature reserve in Asia. It includes 16 counties and 5.6 million people. |
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