Beijing has set aside 17 million yuan ($2.04 million) to upgrade its largest nature preserve, a vast uninhabited zone in northwest China that is home to hundreds of endangered species, Xinhua news agency said Thursday.
The Altun nature reserve, a 16,875-square-mile corner of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, would be equipped with a gene data bank and artificial breeding center for endangered animals and plants, Xinhua said.Altun, the largest of China's 800 nature reserves, would also receive tighter protection from poaching and encroachment by illegal gold miners that had caused environmental damage in recent years, it said.
Park officials said they were $200,000 short of funds needed to complete the projects, expected to start operating within five years.
The reserve protects some 60 species of endangered wild animals and 300 rare plants, as well as a pristine ecosystem of glaciers and snow-covered mountains, rivers and dozens of mountain-based lakes, Xinjiang officials were quoted as saying.
The high-plateau park is home to the Tibetan wild ass, Tibetan antelope, wild yaks, wild camels and black-necked cranes, all protected species, the officials said.
A survey by local officials produced estimates of approximately 60,000 Tibetan asses, nearly 80,000 Tibetan antelopes and 10,000 wild yaks, Xinhua said.
A two-year crackdown on illegal gold mining in the reserve by miners from neighbouring Qinghai and Gansu provinces had significantly reduced human damage to the park, Xinhua said.
Of China's 800 reserves, 518 parks covering 123 million acres are designated for protecting flora and fauna.
Forestry and wildlife authorities plan to create another 80 nature reserves by early next century, bringing the total protected land to 145 million acres, the China Daily reported.