Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region plans to set up 13 wetland nature reserves, covering about 1.46 million hectares, to conserve deteriorating ecological systems.

The program is designed to establish unique inland ecosystems consisting of wetlands and deserts, a document from the autonomous region's Forestry Bureau said.

Xinjiang's wetlands are mainly located in the lower reaches of the Tarim River, the inner basins and river valleys of the Tianshan mountains, and the Ertix River area of the Altay grasslands. The highest site sits at 4,800 meters above sea level and the lowest at 154 meters below sea level, said the bureau.

Wetlands in the region have declined to 1.48 million hectares from 2.8 million hectares half a century ago due to population growth and rapid economic development.

China has more than 65.9 million hectares of wetlands, accounting for 10 percent of the world's total.

Statistics from the State Forestry Administration show that in the past 40 years, the country lost 2 million hectares of wetlands, or one half of the acreage of the country's coastal wetlands.

Wetlands, natural ecological systems often described as the earth's "kidneys," play an important role in water conservation and the prevention of erosion and flooding.

(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2002)