Southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region plans to establish three priority areas for biodiversity protection, including the southeastern portion of the Himalayas, southern slope of the Hengduan Mountains, as well as Jangthang and Sanjiangyuan (the waterheads of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers), Xinhua reported.

In 2010, China’s State Council deliberated and passed the “China Biodiversity Protection Strategy and Action Plan,” which defines 35 priority areas of biodiversity protection including the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

In the past few years, biodiversity protection has gained more and more public attention, with the surfacing of problems such as the safety of genetically modified organisms, invasion of alien species, and acquiring and benefit sharing of biological genetic resources.

Since Tibet is a significant gene bank in the world, it is necessary and urgent for the region to establish the priority areas of biodiversity protection.

Biodiversity is the existence of a wide variety of plants and animal species living in their natural environment, including ecosystems, species and gene. Biodiversity sets the conditions for human life, is the basis for sustainable economic and social development, and ensures safeties of food and ecology, said Jiang Bai, head of Tibet Environmental Protection Bureau.

Jiang Bai added that if you want to help protect biodiversity, you must let more people realize its importance. With the advancement of conservation, public awareness of biodiversity protection will continue to improve, and consciousness and initiative to protect biological diversity will increase as well.