One year on, law on Qinghai-Xizang Plateau ecosystem protection bears fruit

XINING, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- In late August, a forest security team ventured deep into the rugged wilderness of Hoh Xil, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site in northwest China's Qinghai Province. Often called a "forbidden zone for human life," this patrol marked yet another step forward in protecting one of the world's last truly wild frontiers.

"Our team carries out 12 large-scale patrols every year, which deters poaching and other illegal acts," said Ngawang Dampa, director of the bureau.

Hol Xil is a paradise for Tibetan antelope, but just a few decades ago, and despite a ban on hunting, poachers swarmed into Hoh Xil, their gun sights set on these serene animals.

There has been no poaching gunfire in Hoh Xil since 2009, and the population of Tibetan antelope has increased from no more than 20,000 in the late 1980s to more than 70,000 today.

Last September, a law on ecological protection of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, known as "the roof of the world" and Asia's "water tower," took effect. Experts say the law is vital for protecting the plateau's ecology, ensuring sustainable development, and achieving harmony between humans and nature.

Kunga, 36, lives over 4,000 meters above sea level in Qinghai's Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. After his home was included into a national nature reserve in 2016, he became an ecological conservator, riding a motorcycle through vast pastures and steep mountains.

"We use cameras and notebooks to record changes in wildlife and grassland conditions in our hometown. In cases such as wildlife injuries, we will contact local law enforcement," he said.

Recent research show that the ecosystem on the plateau has improved as a whole over the past 15 years.

"The law has enabled us to establish and improve the protection of glaciers and permafrost on the plateau, and strengthen the monitoring and early warning of glaciers and permafrost in the snow-capped mountains," said Shen Yongping, a researcher with the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Shen and other researchers have worked together to strengthen research on the Asia's "water tower" and the ecological background of ice and snow on the plateau, and actively provide references for relevant government decisions.

"The rule of law has become an important force for ecological protection on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, which is conducive to improving the level of ecological risk prevention, and ultimately achieving harmony between humanity and nature," said Zhao Xinquan, director of the state key laboratory of ecology and plateau agriculture and animal husbandry in the Sanjiangyuan area, which contains the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers.