According to the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Forestry and Grassland Bureau of northwest China’s Qinghai Province on August 6 that the first group of alpine wetland ecosystem monitoring stations have been established in the source area of the Yangtze River.

While some stations were set up at an altitude of 4,200 meters in the Longbao National Nature Reserve, others were set up at an altitude of 3,700 meters in the Paltang River National Wetland Park.

It is reported that the stations will carry out wetland ecosystem monitoring, water bird habitat evaluation, headwater conservation function evaluation, population trends and genetic research, and conservation research.

It is understood that the Longbao National Nature Reserve is the first national-level nature reserve in China that focuses on the protection of black-necked cranes and its breeding place, while the Paltang River National Wetland Park is an important water source conservation area for the Yangtze River.

As of now, Qinghai has 8,413,600 hectares of wetland area, which accounts for 15.19 percent of the total wetland area in China. Qinghai ranks first in China for wetland area and is the most influential ecological regulation zone in the world.