The Sanjiangyuan region covers 363,000 square kilometers of land and has a population of 590,000. Within the region, there are five ethnic group autonomous prefectures and sixteen counties.

A protected ecological zone, the region is home to more varieties of river, glacier and plateau species than anywhere else in the world. However, due to global warming and human activity over the past 30 years, the Sanjiangyuan region is increasingly suffering from ecological deterioration. Governments at various levels attach great importance to controlling the deterioration.