The Tarim River in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is 2,179 kilometers (1,354 miles) long and has a drainage area of 198,000 square kilometers (about 48.9 million acres). It is the longest inland river in China and the fifth longest in the world.

The middle reaches of the Tarim River stretch some 100 kilometers (62 miles) in length and is home to diversiform-leaved poplar and shrubbery, which cover 1.47 million mu (245,000 acres) and maintain the local ecological balance.

The river's water flow has been slowing and the grasslands have been thinning out along the middle and low reaches of the Tarim River in recent years. The Taklamakan Desert and Gurbantunggut Desert are quickly encroaching on the river's lower reaches.

Local governments have spent 10.7 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) and launched a comprehensive program to promote environmental protection for the Tarim River reaches since March. To protect the forest and save water resources, residents in the middle and lower reaches will be relocated to other places. Most of the residents to emigrate are from Luntai and Yuli Counties. The measures are expected to save 100 million liters of water each year.

(China.org.cn by Feng Yikun, December 7, 2002)