China will, among other measures, work hard to set up three wetland monitoring stations in the next two years, to help protect Qinghai Lake, the largest saltwater lake in the country.

Zhang Dehai, chief of the Qinghai Lake Nature Reserve Administration, said the monitoring stations would contribute substantially to the protection of the lake and its biodiversity.

Located in Qinghai Province on the vast Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the lake covers an area of 4,600 sq km. Over 40 rivers and numerous springs and marshes in and around the lake form various types of wetlands, which serve as a critical refuge for a great number of birds and fish.

However, since the 1960s, the lake has been shrinking due to reduced water inflow from major rivers, and local peasant farmers have turned large tracts of lakeside grassland into farmland.

To reverse the situation, the government of Qinghai Province decided last year to convert 14,600 ha of farmland to pastures, and the area will be expanded to 33,300 ha by the end of this year.

(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2003)