Recently, a monitoring team composed of herders in the Yellow River Source Area of the Three Rivers National Park photographed a large number of white-lipped deer, wolves, wild sheep, and Tibetan antelope, either gazing alone or playfully frolicking. Photo/Green Yellow River Snow Leopard Monitoring Team

Xinhua News Agency Xining, February 29th (Ru Dan Yang) Reporter on the 29th, from the Qinghai Provincial Department of Planning and Reform learned that since the implementation of the Three Rivers Source Area Ecological Protection and Construction Project in 2005, nearly 21.2 billion (Chinese Yuan, RMB) has been invested in the ‘13th Five-Year’ period, and 30 projects have been implemented across three categories.

Qinghai Province's Three Rivers Source Area is located in the heart of the Tibetan Plateau, the origin of the Yangtze River, Yellow River, and Lancang River, known as ‘the source of the three rivers’, it is China’s important source of freshwater and a vital ecological security barrier for China and Asia.

Since the implementation of the Three Rivers Source Area Ecological Protection and Construction Phase II project, the forest coverage rate in the Three Rivers Source Area has increased from 4.8% to 7.43%, the vegetation coverage of grasslands has increased from 73% to 75%, the area of degraded grasslands has decreased by 2302 square kilometers, and the rate of desertification land reclamation has increased from 45% to 47%. The water conservation volume has increased from 197.6 billion cubic meters to 211.8 billion cubic meters, and the annual outmigration water volume has increased by 59.67 billion cubic meters on average compared to 2005-2012. The surface water environmental quality condition is excellent, and the water quality of monitoring sections is above Grade II.

Wetland area has increased significantly, populations of rare wild animals such as Tibetan antelope, Przewalski’s horse, and black-necked cranes are growing, and the ecological area is steadily recovering, demonstrating initial protective results.

During this period, Qinghai Province has carried out ecological asset and service value assessment of the Three Rivers Source Area, green performance assessment and evaluation, monitoring and early warning assessment mechanism construction, and ecological protection compensation mechanism construction in the Three Rivers Source Area. The ecological compensation policies have been implemented comprehensively, and the ecological compensation mechanism has been further improved.

At the same time, Qinghai Province has implemented ecological monitoring and basic geographic information system construction projects, forming a Three Rivers Source Area ecological monitoring system and monitoring technology guarantee system supported by ‘3S’ technology, combining remote sensing monitoring with ground monitoring, and establishing a ‘sky-ground integrated’ ecological environment monitoring and evaluation system and data integration and sharing mechanism.

Now, the ecological protection dividend of the Three Rivers Source Area is continuously released, and ecological advantages are gradually transforming into development advantages. In 2019, the per capita disposable income of the pastoral families increased by nearly 9876 yuan compared to 2005, about 4 times, with more than 70% of the income being compensation income. The level of life for pastoral families in the Three Rivers Source Area has improved significantly, and the enthusiasm and positive attitude of the public to participate in ecological protection and restoration are high. (Completed) Source: China News Network