The source of the Yangtze River is called Changjiangyuan
in Chinese. Lying at an altitude of over 5,000 meters it is located
far from the sea in the hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
Extending over some 159,000 square kilometers, the catchment
area at the source is formed by the Tuotuo, Dangqu and Qumar
rivers. Here the ecology is so fragile that experts say, “If you
really want to care for the source of the Yangtze just leave it
alone! It is so delicately balanced that any intrusion might lead
to damage or even disaster.”
The influence of the Three Gorges Project and the South-to-North
Water Diversion Project can be felt far beyond the effects on the
daily lives of the people living on the middle and lower reaches of
the river. Their impact upon the eco-environment reaches back up
the river to the source of the Yangtze. In fact the whole country
is affected in one way or another. There is a sense in which these
headwaters are more than just the source
of the Yangtze they are a very metaphor for the ecological source
of the Chinese nation.
An environment under threat
Over-grazing leading to desertification of the grasslands has
attracted particular criticism for its contribution to
environmental deterioration at the source of the Yangtze.
Statistics show that these grasslands began to suffer back in
the 1980s when they fell prey to the rapid growth of the human
population and livestock numbers. Soon there were large areas of
bare earth incapable of supporting new growth. In a bitter twist of
nature the very people and livestock who had overstressed the land
in the first place found themselves obliged to retreat from areas
that were gradually becoming barren.
Meanwhile widespread hunting has disrupted the natural food
chain. It has been well established that the loss of just one link
in the food chain can upset a previously stable ecological
balance.
Around the source of the Yangtze, many Tibetan antelopes and
kiangs have been killed. Even owls have fallen victim to the
poachers. No longer threatened by their natural enemy, mice numbers
have increased dramatically. A plague of these voracious little
rodents nibbling away at the turf has contributed to the spread of
desertification.
Sources at the Yangtze Valley Water Resources Protection
Administration, which operates under the auspices of the Yangtze
River Water Conservancy Commission, point to yet another
contributory factor. Over the past 20 years, hundreds of thousands
of people have sought their fortunes by panning for gold in the
area of the source of the Yangtze. As they indiscriminately treaded
river channels and grasslands underfoot their illegal activities
have led to further deterioration of the environment.
Wherever the land has been stripped of its protective mantle of
vegetation the underlying soil becomes vulnerable. Every spring the
strong winds that sweep across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau pick up
and carry off sand and silt. They take it eastwards along the paths
of the Qumar and Tuotuo rivers posing a severe threat to the
grasslands to the east of Hoh Xil. A 40-km-long belt of sand dunes
has formed on the banks of the Tongtian River and is advancing at a
rate of 5 km a year.
When summer comes
the waters of the Yangtze carry large quantities of sand and silt
down to the lower reaches of the river. The area around the source
of the Yangtze has even started to experience sandstorms.
Residents living along the banks of the Tuotuo River can no
longer drink the water from the Yangtze because of geochemical
pollution. The problem is the high concentration of halogenide and water has to
be brought in from tens of kilometers away.
Monitoring statistics from the Tuotuo River Hydrological Station
reveal two factors operating in tandem to threaten the very river
itself. The Tuotou is finding itself carrying more and more sand
and silt at the same time as water volumes are decreasing.
Considering the severity of the desertification at the source of
the Yangtze, is the Tuotuo River destined to disappear or even become a continental river itself
before many more years have passed?
A journalist who took part in an environmental protection
awareness event at the source of the Yangtze in 2001 said that,
during this symbolic activity, several tons of garbage were
collected along the banks of the Tuotuo River.
Responsibility for saving the source of the Yangtze
Better late than never. After the massive Yangtze floods of
1998, the departments involved launched a series of nature
conservancy projects involving the source of the Yangtze.
In 2001, the Yangtze River Water Conservancy Commission launched
the Prevention and Protection Project for Water and Soil
Conservation at the Source of the Yangtze. With an emphasis on
prevention and supervision, the project is aimed at establishing
and streamlining the local legal framework and related supervisory
systems of law enforcement as they effect water and soil
conservation.
It will help local governments make provision for the reversion
of pasture to grassland. Monitoring will be strengthened in the
fields of water and soil conservation and in the eco-environment
generally. The measures are intended to halt water and soil erosion
as far as possible and return the eco-environment to a state of
natural balance.
However one fundamental problem is yet to be resolved. China
operates under the general principle that local governments at all
levels should take responsibility for the quality of the
environment within their own administrative regions.
However, the source of the Yangtze is in a relatively
unproductive mountainous area. Qinghai
Province, where the source is located, is in an economically
underdeveloped part of the country. So where should the
responsibility for the ecological construction of the source of the
Yangtze lie?
Experts from the Yangtze Valley Water Resources Protection
Administration point to other mechanisms that need to be taken into
account in addition to the fragile ecology of the area. Those who
live around the source of the Yangtze have priorities that are
defined in terms of economic development rather than environmental
protection. On the lower reaches of the river their fellow
countrymen are already much further along the road of economic
development and rate environmental protection upstream much more
highly.
Such factors are pertinent to any consideration of measures
concerning the source of the Yangtze. These would after all serve
to guarantee water quality not just in the area of the source but
also on the lower reaches of this mighty river and even further
across the country.
So responsibility for ecological conservation at the source of
the Yangtze should not just be seen as a matter to be left to the
various levels of the local government. Responsibility should run
throughout the length and breadth of the total catchment area and
extend further to the country as a whole.
The experts added that the departments involved had already
undertaken several scientific studies at the source of the Yangtze.
However a clear understanding of the present state of its ecology
has not yet been achieved. They are of the view that further
fundamental research is needed to properly determine the current
situation and better understand the various influences impacting on
the area.
The research should investigate the patterns of change over time
and interrelationships within the eco-system. The results of the
research would serve to inform overall planning to ensure effective
ecological protection at the source of the Yangtze. In particular
the experts have identified a need for additional funds to support
long-term monitoring of changes in the local eco-environment to aid
the work of protecting the ecology from further deterioration.
(China.org.cn by Zhang Tingting, November 7, 2003)