On July 19th, Tibet held an informational press conference to explain the White Paper titled “Ecological Progress on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,” which was released by the State Council Information Office on the 18th.

According to Shui Yanping of Tibet Autonomous Region’s Department of Environmental Protection, as of now, the region has established 47 nature conservation zones of various grades and types, with a total area of 412. 2 thousand sqkm, which is 34.35% of the region’s total territory.

Tsongga, vice Chief of the Department of Forestry of the region, said the recent monitoring data showed that there was an increase of 190 thousand hectares of forest area and a reduction of 13.6 thousand hectares of desert soil and 35 thousand hectares of sandy soil in the region. Besides, about 10 thousand hectares of wetlands have been revitalized.

The improvement of biodiversity protection has contributed to a revitalized growth of rare and endangered species in the region. There was about eight thousand black-necked cranes who wintered in the region, about 80% of the world’s total. The number of Tibetan antelopes has recovered from 50-70 thousand to over 200 thousand currently. The number of wild yaks has also reached almost 10 thousand. The Tibetan elaphus, once internationally considered to be extinct, was rediscovered in Sangri County in 1995, and has now reached 300 in number.