China on Saturday launched a large-scale scientific
investigation into plants in Three Gorges, which would collect
28,000 specimens in three years.
A team of nine scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences
(CAS) arrived here on Saturday as the first batch of more than 60
scientists who are expected to join the investigation.
"The investigation is the largest of its kind in Three Gorges,
and would provide reliable reference for the protection of plants
and the ecological environment," said Li Liangqian, chief
researcher of the CAS Institute of Botany.
New plant communities are expected to be found during the
investigation, which would enrich the botanical resources of China
and boost the development of medical and gene sciences, according
to Li.
The scientists conducted the scientific investigation under the
request of the Office of the Three Gorges Project Construction
Committee of the State Council in April.
The Three Gorges Project, the world's largest water control
facility, is located on the middle reaches of the Yangtze, China's
longest river, with a 185-meter-high dam, completed in June last
year, and a five-tier ship lock.
The project was Launched in 1993 and built at an estimated cost
of 180 billion yuan.
However, rare plant species face extinction after water level
rises in the wake of the operation of Three Gorges reservoir.
Research institutes in Chongqing and Hubei Province have done
some investigations in the area, which were confined to certain
areas with a small scale.
"I am happy to see the investigation. Rare plants get chances to
survive," said Xiang Xiufa, who operated a botanic park of rare
plants of Three Gorge in Chongqing that went bankrupt in June.
(Xinhua News Agency September 16, 2007)