Tibet Strengthens Environmental Protection Efforts

　　With China's economic growth comes increasingly serious environmental problems. Water pollution, deforestation, and acid rain are problems frequently covered by media. Many large and medium-sized cities are now considered "smog capitals." But in western China, past the Sichuan Basin, the sky is extraordinarily clear and blue, mountains are blanketed with primeval forests, and the land is dotted with blue alpine lakes. Untraversed Tibet has become China's last piece of unspoiled land.
　　The sources of several Asian rivers lie in Tibet, a region of more than 1.2 million square kilometer. In Tibet, there are over 20 rivers whose drainage areas cover 10,000 square kilometers, 100 rivers whose valleys cover 2,000 square kilometers, and more than 1,500 lakes. River water quality in Tibet is better than State surface water quality.
　　Tibet is one of China's most forested areas. Total forest area cover 7.17 million hectares. Uninhabited and remote primeval forests remain unspoiled by man. Although the Tibetan forestry industry could chop down 2 million cubic meters of wood each year, the government permits only 200,000 cubic meters to be chopped. A decade ago, timber was Tibet's main building material. Today, a variety of building materials are either produced locally or imported. Also, utilization of electricity, wind energy, solar energyand liquefied gas has decreases the need for firewood.
　　Today, Tibet has more than 60 nature reserves such as the Mount 　　Qomolangma Nature Reserve that boats the highest altitude in the world; the Medog Nature Reserve, known as the "natural museum;" the Qangtang Nature Reserve with the largest number of wild land animals in the world; and the Mangkam Cakalho Nature Reserve, the world's largest dwelling area of Yunnan golden monkeys. Over 5,000 senior plants, 39 of which have been listed as wild plants under state key protection, grow in Tibet. The region also boasts 798 species of vertebrates and 2,305 species of insects.
　　Before liberation, there was virtually no industry in Tibet. Today, industries include building materials, textiles, leather goods, and pharmaceuticals. Heavy polluting industries such as papermaking, petrochemical production, heavy metals metallurgy, pesticide manufacture, and coalfired power plants, have not been developed. As a result, industrial pollution in Tibet has remained minimal.
Learned from the inland lessons, the local government is determined to keep Tibet upspoiled. The People's Congress and Government of Tibet Autonomous Region have promulgated a series of local laws and administrative regulations relevant to environmental and resource protection. New laws include Environmental Protection Regulations of Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet Autonomous Region Implementing Measures of Wild Animal Protection Law, and Decision of Strengthening Environmental Protection.
　　Provided by the system, the government can better make environmental policy decisions. The government has recently given financial aid to heavy polluting enterprises such as the cement plant to help them meet State environmental standards. From 1991 to 1997, the government invested over 65 million yuan in industrial sewage disposal, thereby raising the percent6age of properly disposed industrial waste from 15 percent to 50 percent.
　　When the Environment Protection Bureau was founded in the early 1980s, environmental protection was an alien concept to local residents. Some would phone environmental protection staff and say, "We hear that you take charge of urban hygiene. There're some rubbish in our street. Please come to deal with it." Today, the public environmental consciousness has risen. On World Environment Day and Earth Day, the government has been advocating environmental protection with great fanfare. since 1991, the Environmental Protection Bureau has been regularly issuing circulars. Residents attach great importance to them and have their opinions published in local media.
　　The joint efforts of government and public and the great support from the inland areas have made Tibet's dreams of unspoiled beauty a reality.