Dubbed "the water tower of China," Qinghai is home to the Sanjiangyuan (Three-River-Source) area, where the three major rivers -- the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and the Lancang River -- originate.

 

Two percent of the total water volume of the Yangtze River, 49 percent of the Yellow River and 17 percent of the Lancang River come from Sanjiangyuan area.

 

Sanjiangyuan area is an important source of freshwater resources in China. More than 60-billion-cubic-meter clean water is sent downstream each year, and the volume has increased in recent years. In 2018, the amount of outbound water reached 72.6 billion cubic meters.

 

Sanjiangyuan National Park, built on the source of the Three Rivers, is located in the southwest of Qinghai province, with a total area of 123,100 square kilometers. Sanjiangyuan National Park is China's first pilot project of national park system.

 

Since the trial of the Sanjiangyuan National Park, water conservation has increased by more than 6 percent annually, and grassland coverage and grass production have risen by more than 11 percent and 30 percent, respectively, compared to 10 years ago.

 

The Sanjiangyuan National Park combines ecological protection with targeted poverty alleviation. It establishes ecological management and protection public welfare posts. "Each household has an ecological administrator. The herders changed from being grassland users to ecological guardian. They not only protect their hometown, but also receive wages, which drive their enthusiasm for ecological protection, said Li Zhenyu, an investigator of Sanjiangyuan National Park Administration. 17,211 herders are involved in this work.

 

China has formally announced its first batch of five national parks, covering a total land area of more than 230,000 square kilometers and conserving nearly 30 percent of the country's key terrestrial wildlife species.

 

The five parks are the Three-River-Source National Park in Qinghai province and the Tibet autonomous region, the Wuyishan National Park in the provinces of Fujian and Jiangxi, the Giant Panda National Park in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park in Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, and the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park in Hainan province.


By Jiang LU