Sanjiangyuan, meaning "source of three rivers", is an area in Northwest China's Qinghai Province and an important part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau(青藏高原). The area is located more than 4, 000 meters above sea level.
The area provides the lower reaches. of these major rivers with more than 60 billion cubic (立方的) meters of water every year.
Tsewang Gyaltsen, an environmental protection worker in Qinghai province, said that because of illegal mining (非法采矿) in the 1990s, a large part of the land was desertified (沙漠化) . The Sanjiangyuan area once witnessed large-scale ecological degradation (大规模生态退化) as a result of natural changes and human activities.
The government, social organizations and local people have all acted to solve this problem. Beginning in 2005, China launched a major ecological project to protect and restore the environment in Sanjiangyuan. In 2016, China started piloting (试点) the Sanjiangyuan National Park. Thanks to the protective measures, the ecological environment in the area has improved a lot.
The organization that Tsewang Gyaltsen works for also organizes nature education events. Sanjiangyuan is changing for the better. It's now a good home for wild animals. The wild animal population is rising. The number of Tibetan antelopes (藏羚羊) has increased from less than 20, 000 in the 1990s to over 70,000.
"The biggest challenge now is the possible loss of grassland and melting (融化) frozen soil caused by global warming." said Tsewang Gyaltsen.
A. But Sanjiangyuan still faces difficulties. B. Taking teenagers to mountains and lakes, it gets them to take an interest in environmental protection. C. Sanjiangyuan is home to the headwaters (源头) of China's three major rivers : the Yellow River, Yangtze River and Lancang River. D. The headwaters of the Yellow River was once cut off and many of the grasslands became barren (荒芜的). E. Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve has become part of Sanjiangyuan National Park and is under strict protection. |
