TibetanantelopesmigrateinJuneinHohXil,oneofthelargestremainingnaturalhabitatsforwildanimalsintheworld.[Photo/Xinhua]
ThehabitatoftheTibetanantelopeintheHohXilareaofChina’sQinghaiprovincewillbenominatedasaUNESCOWorldNaturalHeritagesitein2017.
XinhuaNewsAgencyquotedJiaYingzhong,directorofQinghai’sDepartmentofHousingandUrban-RuralDevelopment,assayingpreparationworkontheapplicationstartedattheendof2014.
“In2015,wewilltrytoputHohXilonChina’stentativelistofworldheritagesites,evaluateitsnaturalresourcesandcompiledocumentsfortherequisitereports,”Jiasaid.
Jiaestimatedthatpreparationswouldbecompletedin2017intimeforavoteattheannualmeetingoftheWorldHeritageCommittee.
Chinacurrentlyhas47placesontheWorldHertiagelist.IfHohXilisadded,itwouldbeafirstforQinghaiprovince.
HohXil,orKekexili,liesintheborderareaoftheTibetautonomousregion.Itwasdesignatedin1995asanationalnaturepreserve,covering45,000squarekilometersandhavinganaverageelevationof4,600meters.
HohXilmeans“beautifulgirl”intheMongolianlanguage.ItisChina’slargestareaofuninhabitedlandandhaslongbeenaparadiseforwildlife.It’shometomorethan230speciesofanimals,20ofwhichareunderStateprotection,includingthewildyak,Tibetanantelope,wilddonkey,white-lipdeerandbrownbear.
Inthelatterpartofthelastcentury,poacherstargetedtheTibetanantelopebecauseofthepopularityoftheshahtoosh,ashawlmadewiththeanimal’sdownyhair,intheUnitedStatesandEurope.Antelopeherdsdwindled.Oncenumbering200,000,thepopulationdroppedtoonly20,000by1997.
Alocalofficial,JesungSonamDargye,spentmuchofhislifetryingtosavetheTibetanantelope,andamovie,Kekexili:MountainPatrol,wasbasedonhisstory.
“ThesacrificeofSonamDargyehelpedtoawakenthepublic’sawarenessoftheHohXilecosystem,”saidSonamYangkyid,adelegatetotheQinghaiPeople’sCongress.“NowtheenvironmentofHohXilhasimprovedalot.ThelastwillofSonamDargyehasbecomereality.”
AccordingtodataprovidedbytheHohXilNatureReserveAdministrationBureau,noillegalhuntinghasbeenconductedsince2006,andtheantelopepopulationhasreboundedtoatleast60,000inthearea.
ZhuChunquan,representingtheInternationalUnionforConservationofNatureChinaOffice,saidthecaseoftheTibetanantelopeisanexampleofanimportantwildlifemanagementsuccess,andtheexperienceacquiredcanbeadoptedinotherareasforotherendangeredspecies.
“Thefirstlessonistotelltherightstory,”Zhusaid.“ManyconsumersintheUnitedStatesandEuropedidn’tknowtheirpurchasewouldcausethedeathoftheTibetanantelope.Withglobalpublicity,demandhascurbeddramatically.”
“Secondistheengagementofthelocalgovernmentandlocalpeople,”Zhusaid.“Thecentralgovernmentbegantopayattentionwhenthelocalgovernmentandlocalpeopledevotedalotofenergytothis.”
RegistrationNumber:05070218
Allrightsreserved.Thecontent(includingbutnotlimitedtotext,photo,multimediainformation,etc)publishedinthissitebelongstowww.gov.cn.
Withoutwrittenauthorizationfromwww.gov.cn,suchcontentshallnotberepublishedorusedinanyform.