Statistics show that Tibet is one of China's five largest pastoral areas, with 82.07 million hectares of natural grassland, accounting for about 21% of the country's total natural grassland area. With an area of 14.91 million hectares of forest, China's largest primitive forest is preserved here. With an area of 6.53 million hectares, wetlands are the second largest in China and its alpine wetlands are unique in the world. At the same time, it is also one of the 34 biodiversity hotspots in the world, and an important gene bank for safeguarding the biodiversity of the earth. 125 species of wild animals have been listed as national key protected objects,accounting for more than one-third of the national key protected wild animals. The ecosystem services provided by Tibet not only benefit the masses in Tibet, but also serve as the "river source" and "ecological source" of South Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as the "starter" and "regulating area" of the climate of China and even the eastern hemisphere.

"Protecting the roof of the world, the water tower of Asia, the third pole of the earth" is the sacred duty of every one of us. Tibet also pays great attention to ecological environmental protection, putting forward the strategic goal of building the ecological security barrier and building "ecological Tibet" and "beautiful Tibet". Departments at all levels promotes the development of protection work with unprecedented attention, investment intensity, work intensity and the breadth of benefit to the people. The forestry system in Tibet strictly follows the decisions and arrangements of the party committee and government of Tibet Autonomous Region, and pays close attention to the protection and construction of forestry ecology.

At present, Tibet has established a total area of 413,600 square kilometers of various nature reserves at all levels, accounting for 34.35%of the total land area in Tibet, with the highest land coverage rate in China. A variety of protected land forms including scenic area, national forest park, national wetland park and geological park have been established.

For more than half a century, the ecological construction and natural protection in Tibet have been developing from scratch, and achieved a qualitative leap from spontaneity to self-consciousness, from passivity to initiative, and from blindness to science. Overall ecological indicators have gradually improved, and a number of ecological protection threats have shown a reversal trend. According to statistics, the Tibetan antelope recovered from more than 50,000 in the mid-1990s to more than 200,000, the black-necked crane rose from less than 3,000 to about 8,000, and the wild yak population reached over 10,000. At the same time, the forest coverage rate and storage capacity have achieved double growth, and the trend of desertification has been reversed. It can be said that the natural protection system of Tibet with nature reserves as the main body has gradually formed, and the unique biological diversity and typical ecosystem have been effectively protected.

However, although the situation of nature conservation in Tibet is good, the challenges remain arduous. With vast area and widely distributed protected objects,  it is very difficult to carry out the comprehensive protection work. In addition, global climate change is affecting the snow plateau in a hidden and dramatic way, posing a major challenge to the operation of the natural ecosystem.

Every one of us is a part of nature. In the face of these challenges, we must respect the nature, rely on scientific methods of work, and embrace the forces of conservation from all walks of life. The public should also make contributions to the protection of nature to the best of their ability, and make the construction of "beautiful Tibet" and "harmonious plateau" into the conscious action of everyone.

By: Zhi Xinghua