Maqu wetlands in NW China see transformation due to conservation and restoration

This combo photo shows staff members making sand barriers on a degraded grassland (above, photo taken by Xinhua photographer Han Chuanhao in 2002) and villagers sowing grass seeds on a grassland management point (below, photo taken by Xinhua photographer Zhang Keren on July 6, 2023) along the Yellow River in Maqu County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Gansu Province.

Located on the northeast rim of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Maqu County boasts an extensive presence of grasslands and wetlands. Maqu, meaning "the Yellow River" in the Tibetan language, is the only county named after "Yellow River" in China. Covering an area of 5.62 million mu (about 374,667 hectares), the Maqu wetlands serve as an important water reserve and eco-zone in the upper reaches of the Yellow River.

However, the Maqu wetlands once suffered from shrinking lake areas, grass degradation, and decreasing water conservation capacity. In order to protect the Maqu wetlands from degrading further, Maqu County has continued to implement integrated conservation and restoration projects of its environment in recent years. The wetlands are expanding with increasing water conservation capacity, and ecological functions have been further improved as the environment restores. (Xinhua)