Guarding Nature: Efforts to conserve the Sanjiangyuan area pay off
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The Sanjiangyuan area in northwestern China's Qinghai Province is dubbed the "water tower" of the nation, as it's home to the country's three major rivers. A National Park there is expected to officially open later this year. CGTN's Yang Jinghao talked to a local herdsman who has worked to protect the ecology for 20 years. He shared the changes he has witnessed.

Crossing the rapid and freezing rivers and then patrolling mountains beyond mountains. This has been Wen Xiao's routine work for the past two decades as an "ecological conservator" in the Sanjiangyuan area, home to the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang Rivers.

WEN XIAO Ecological conservator, Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve "My duty is to protect the wildlife and the forests. In general, the whole ecology here."

The 47-year-old Tibetan took on this role in 2000 when China decided to establish a nature reserve here, as the ecological environment was seriously destroyed in the 1980s and 90s due to climate change and human activity. The reserve covers 16 counties of Qinghai Province, making it the largest in China.

WEN XIAO Ecological conservator at the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve "Back then, people swarmed to my hometown for gold mining, hunting and deforesting. By 2000, there were very few wild animals. The alpine musk deer had almost died out, and the snow leopards couldn't be seen, even their footprints."

For Wen and several other villagers, acting as guardians of nature seemed a bad bargain – they got no payment in the first few years, and even needed to foot the bill for essential equipment out of their own pockets. In return, they received countless verbal attacks.

WEN XIAO Ecological conservator, Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve "The poachers threatened me and told me not to meddle, otherwise they would shoot me dead. I didn't care about what they said. That's just my job. That's what I love to do!"

With unrelenting efforts by authorities and conservators like Wen, the ecology turned a lot better by around 2014. A symbol - once rarely-seen animals have frequently shown up in this vast nature reserve. In May last year, Wen even found a mother snow leopard and two newborns on a cliff.

WEN XIAO Ecological conservator, Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve "I was very, very excited. I saw snow leopards many times. But it's my first time to see the leopards in their den."

And reforms by authorities have kept coming.

YANG JINGHAO Yushu, Qinghai Province "The Sanjiangyuan National Park will officially open this year after four years of trial operation. This initiative not only aims to better protect the environment; it also serves as a way to lift local residents out of poverty."

Each family included into the scope of the national park is provided with a job as an "ecological conservator" and paid 1,800 yuan each month. But local officials admit big challenges still lay ahead.

GA TA Chief, Natural Resources Management Bureau Qumarleb Branch, Sanjiangyuan National Park "Though we have invested heavily in the ecological protection in the Sanjiangyuan area, we still face various problems caused by climate change, such as grassland desertification, receding snowline and shrinkage of lakes. There's still much to do in ecological remediation."

Wen says he hopes more and more young people, like his son, will join the undertaking and devote their passion to guarding their beautiful homeland for generations to come. YJH, CGTN, Sanjiangyuan area in Qinghai Province.