Large-scale Ecological Protection Plan Kicked off in TibetAs learned from the department concerned the largest scale ecological protection plan in history has been launched lately in Tibet, known as the "roof of the world".Starting from this year to the first half of the century, Tibet will input 22.7 billion yuan for some 160 key projects to improve the ecological environment in the region. In ecological environment, Tibet still remains one of the best places in the world. However, as it is the Everest in the world, its ecological system is quite fragile. With the changing of the global climate and increase of human activities, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is now faced with further widening of ozone hole overhead, snowline moving up, lakes tending to dry up, desertification, industrial pollution and other factors that affect the climate intensified. Once the ecological environment on the Tibet Plateau is damaged, it will be very hard to recover. Tibet is known as the third pole of the world, a starter of monsoon climate in East Asia and regulator of the global climate and it is also the water-heads for most rivers and sources of ecology in China. So the ecological environment there is of critical importance for the region and even for the whole world. Statistics indicate that the average rate of development in the region reached 10.84 percent in the past five years, exceeding the country's average. The regional economy will witness a faster growth in the days to come. According to the new plan, the region will take measures to bring the discharge of sewage and emission of exhaustion gas under control by setting up more installations for garbage and sewage treatment in Lhasa and other large cities in the region. The plan calls on the banning of mountain exploitation, quarrying and other activities doing harm to natural environment, and strictly forbids the setting-up of industrial projects with severe pollution. Some cement factories are going to be shut down due to the heavy pollution. The region will also promote the eco-agriculture and popularize the use of hydropower, solar energy and wind power in the agro-pastoral areas where live the 90 percent of population in the region. So far, it has seen 400 hydropower and solar energy stations put up in the region. Protection of geological remains will also be highlighted and prevention of geological disasters will be strengthened. Up to now, 17 nature reserves have been set up in the region with their total acreage accounting for about one half that of the whole country. By PD Online staff member Li Yan |
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