The information was released at a press conference on Tibetan environmental status on June 4.

The Yarlung Zangbo River has its source at southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region and stretches 2,057 km within Chinese territory.

It is an important international river and the world's highest river with an average elevation of 4,500 m.

Chen Xianshun, director of the Tibetan Environment Protection Bureau said ecological protection zone would forbid all human activities which may harm the ecological system.

Local biological diversity could be maintained, areas that had already been damaged could recover, and the river's water quality could be improved.

(Xinhua News Agency June 4, 2003)