Road Construction. Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai, China. 2014
Road Construction. Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai, China. 2014
In 2000, the Chinese government recognized that an environmental crisis was underway and created the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, stretching for more than 140 square miles over China’s Tibetan plateau. Over the past decades, as China’s cities and economy have grown rapidly, this region has been increasingly explored for resource extraction. A single mine, the Muli mine, contains 3.5 billion tons of coal, or 87 percent of the province's reserves. The infrastructure necessary to move supplies and resources has further altered the landscape as road construction projects cut through the plateau, and open mining pits abut protected wilderness areas. Environmental groups say that these projects harm the wildlife and delicate ecosystem the reserve was created to protect.
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Road Construction. Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai, China. 2014
In 2000, the Chinese government recognized that an environmental crisis was underway and created the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve, stretching for more than 140 square miles over China’s Tibetan plateau. Over the past decades, as China’s cities and economy have grown rapidly, this region has been increasingly explored for resource extraction. A single mine, the Muli mine, contains 3.5 billion tons of coal, or 87 percent of the province's reserves. The infrastructure necessary to move supplies and resources has further altered the landscape as road construction projects cut through the plateau, and open mining pits abut protected wilderness areas. Environmental groups say that these projects harm the wildlife and delicate ecosystem the reserve was created to protect.