The second Lop Nur? Qinghai Lake, with its rich "green heritage", refuses!

Qinghai Lake is called a lake, but it looks more like a sea. In Tibetan, Qinghai Lake is called "Cowinbu", which means "blue sea". With a shoreline of 360 kilometers and an area of ​​more than 4,500 square kilometers, Qinghai Lake is the largest lake on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the largest saltwater lake in China and the second largest in the world.

Qinghai Lake is known as the gene bank of species on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The diverse wetland types provide an ideal habitat for water birds. The rich and diverse habitat types and landscape diversity provide a suitable living environment for many wild animals and plants on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, attracting them to survive and reproduce here. Qinghai Lake is an important breeding ground for water birds and a major node in the migration channel. Every year, more than 600,000 water birds migrate, stay, and reproduce here, with 97 species. It is also an important water source conservation area and water vapor circulation channel in western China, maintaining the ecological balance of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the larger environment in western my country.

File photo: A corner of the Erlangjian Scenic Area of ​​Qinghai Lake taken in Gonghe County, Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province (drone photo)

However, due to climate change, human activities and other factors, the ecology of Qinghai Lake has been seriously degraded. The naked carp resources in Qinghai Lake are on the verge of depletion, the surrounding grasslands are desertified and degraded, the flagship species Przewalski's gazelle is on the verge of extinction, the lake water level continues to drop, and the water area continues to shrink. The outside world once worried that Qinghai Lake would become "China's second Lop Nur."

To this end, relevant departments have implemented a series of ecological protection and ecological governance measures, allowing Qinghai Lake, the "sapphire" of the plateau, to once again shine with its ecological beauty of fish and birds flying, clear water and blue sky.

In terms of strengthening restoration and management, it is planned to build Qinghai Lake National Park, with a preliminary scope of 11,600 square kilometers. It will basically include Qinghai Lake and other plateau lakes, rivers, alpine swamp wetland ecosystems, as well as rare and endangered wild animals and plants such as black-necked cranes, swans, Qinghai Lake naked carp, Przewalski's gazelle, and feathered spatholobi into the scope of the national park. The continuous enrichment of Qinghai Lake's biodiversity will make the unique "grass-river-lake-fish-bird" symbiotic ecological chain of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau tend to be balanced, and the ecological protection of Qinghai Lake will also be promoted with high quality.

In terms of improving the monitoring system, the relevant departments have established "four fixed, three unified" monitoring standards to achieve full coverage of key ecological protection objects and key areas. At the same time, the relevant departments have also built a national terrestrial wildlife epidemic source disease monitoring station and a national positioning observation and research station for the Qinghai Lake wetland ecosystem in the Qinghai Lake Scenic Area, and jointly set up 300 ecological monitoring ground positioning monitoring stations with research institutions, initially building a scientific research monitoring data platform and monitoring system covering "water, soil, air, and life" in the entire basin, providing strong support for the scientific construction of the Qinghai Lake ecological monitoring network perception system and the preparation of the Qinghai Lake National Park sky-ground integrated ecological monitoring system feasibility study report.

In terms of strict protection in accordance with the law, relevant departments have carried out special operations such as large-scale investigation, rectification and patrol of the ecological environment of Qinghai Lake, sewage investigation and rectification, garbage cleaning and rectification, "Green Shield" operation, and "clearing four chaos" in rivers and lakes, severely cracking down on illegal activities that damage the ecological environment, and working together to promote the continuous improvement of the ecological environment of Qinghai Lake and a more solid ecological security barrier.

Today, the natural resources of Qinghai Lake have achieved "three increases, three reductions, and one unchanged".

The "three increases" refer to the continuous increase in wetland area, the continuous expansion of high-density vegetation coverage, and the continuous enhancement of the overall ecological function of Qinghai Lake. Relevant monitoring data show that the wetland protection rate has reached 69%, the grassland comprehensive vegetation coverage has reached 60%, and the water quality of Qinghai Lake has reached 100%; the resource reserves of Qinghai Lake naked carp, a key species of Qinghai Lake, and the population of the flagship species Przewalski's gazelle have increased; the "three reductions" refer to the continuous reduction in the area of ​​sandy land, bare land, and salinized land in the reserve; and the "one unchanged" refers to the protection of functional land in the reserve.

File photo: Tourists take photos at the Erlangjian Scenic Area of ​​Qinghai Lake

The ecological protection of Qinghai Lake has enriched our green foundation and shaped our green future. We hope that this blue lake will continue to prosper and thrive under our protection, and become a model of harmonious coexistence between man and nature!

Review expert: Yang Rurong, associate researcher at the Institute of Geography and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences

China Association for Science and Technology Department of Science Popularization

Xinhuanet

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