Under the joint sponsorship of CAS and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), two projects have been initiated for the eco-environment studies at the Three-Gorge Reservoir. Their joint launch ceremony was held recently in Zhongxian County of Chongqing Municipality.
The participation of the ceremony included some 70 leaders and experts from the Managerial Center for the 21st Century Agenda under MOST, the Office for Three-Gorge-related Affairs under the State Council, the CAS Bureau of Science and Technology for Resources and the Environment, the Municipal S&T Commission of Chongqing, Zhongxian County's Government and its coordinating members for the two projects, Chengdu-based CAS Institute of Mountain Hazards & Environment, CAS Institute of Botany, Wuhan Botanic Garden under the CAS, Chongqing University, Southwest China University and Chongqing Municipality's Academy of Environmental Sciences.
Respectively titled "The experimental and demonstrative research to bring under control the soil erosion, water loss and ground pollution in the Three-Gorge Reservoir" and "Development & applied research of the ecological restoration and comprehensive rehabilitation for the depleted ecosystems in the area of the Three-Gorge Reservoir," the two projects are expected to contribute to the restoration of the original ecological landscape in the once-depleted ecosystems around the Reservoir.
The studies involve the research of basic theories and technical tests to facilitate the treatment of problems and issues arising from control over the water loss and soil erosion and large-scale pollution in the area and its periphery of the Three-Gorge Reservoir. The direct purposes are to develop related key technologies by integrating monitoring data obtained from field observation stations and districts of demonstrative tests in the vicinity, making comprehensive estimates on the current state of the two scourge, suggesting countermeasures against them and providing scientific grounds for restoring the degenerated ecosystems in vicinity of the Reservoir.
The projects are also aimed at optimize the tourist attractions in the vicinity, raising the exploitation rate of the land resources, improving the environmental setting, reducing the quantities of silt and pollutants discharged into the Reservoir so that a developmental model is to be provided for building an environment-friendly, clean and economically well-developed rural community in the near-by countryside. In this way, they may offer something valuable for the ecological safety of the Yangtze valley and its water resources.
