Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, known as the "roof of the world," is rich in plant and animal bio-diversity, according to the results of an investigation published recently.
The investigation, carried out this year, shows that the region boasts more than 6,800 varieties of higher plants, 39 of which are rare plants under state-level protection.
Tibet is also home to 799 species of wild vertebrate; of this total, 125 species, more than one-third of the national total, are under state-level protection. Among 488 species of birds living in the region, 22 are unique to Tibet.
More than 2,300 species of insects, over 760 kinds of zooplankton and 340 kinds of water plants of the diatom family also live in the region.
To better protect the local ecological environment and protect the range of species living there, Tibet has established 18 nature reserves of state and regional levels, covering an area of more than 330,000 square kilometers -- nearly one-third of the region's total land space.
Meanwhile, local public security departments have launched hard strikes against activities threatening the safety of wildlife.
This year, the region launched a massive program to prevent soil erosion, desertification, geological disasters and deterioration of grassland to safeguard the local ecological environment.
According to a plan, in the first half of this century, a total of 22.7 billion yuan will be spent on building 160 environment-friendly projects in the region.
(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2001)
