| |
Yunnan to compensate endangered species due to the Jinghong dam
construction
China's State Environmental Protection Administration. 2007-12-14
http://www.zhb.gov.cn/info/gxdt/200712/t20071214_114362.htm
Due to the completion of Yunnan Jinghong Hydropower Station, part of
forest land in Xishuangbanna's Naban River protected area. In order to
minimize the damage to the rare and endangered plants in the forest
land after the dam begins storing water, the management office of
Yunnan Environmental Protection Bureau's Naban River Protected Area
decided through consultation with the Jinghong Hydropower Station
authority to build a rare and endangered botanical garden, and
transplant the affected rare and endangered species.
Jinghong Power Station is located in the lower reaches of the Lancang
River, in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, the northern suburb of
Jinghong City. It is the sixth of the eight-dam cascade in the middle
and lower reaches of Lancang River. The dam is as high as nearly 120
meters with a capacity of 1.04 billion cubic meters, and the planned
generation reaches 7 billion kwh. Power Station is built mainly to
transfer power to the Southeast Asian countries. Jinghong Power
Station is 70% invested and owned by Thailand GMS company. In the
China's history of large hydropower construction, this will be the
first-ever introduction of foreign direct investment in the
construction of hydropower station, and the first-ever power station
that transfers all the electricity to foriegn countries. (Note: Due to
the uncertainty in Thailand's power demand, the Jinghong dam is being
built at the beginning without GMS involvement, and plans to gradually
move to under GMS company's stock-holding after its completion.)
Based on the requirements of environmental protection, during the
construction of Jinghong Hydropower Station, the mining slope on the
southern bank upper dam road will undergo greening and ecological
reconstruction. The construction of rare and endangered Botanical
Garden was officially started in June 1, 2007. It is located near
Guomen Hill checkpoint, with the elevation 950 meters and occupying an
area of more than 60 acres. The plot has a vertical elevation of more
than 20 meters, which has plains, steep slopes, weed trenches, plenty
of rain and modest sunlight, high level of soil moisture and the fog
period longer enough for tropical and subtropical species survival.
It is understood that the establishing procedures of this rare and
endangered botanical gardens includes five steps, selection and
handling of sprouts, moving, transport and colonization. One of the
most critical step is the transplanting of trees, especially the
large arbor tree species, because of its large tree crown and its
thick, deep and widely distributed root. To ensure its survival,
transplanting must be carried out during the rainy season, and after
being dug up it has to be planted into the land as soon as possible,
to prevent water lose and drying of the root or bacteria infection.
Currently, a total of 74 kinds, more than 700 strains of rare and
endangered plants were transplanted, most of trees being transplanted
are above three meters high, and the diameter are 20 cm above. In the
regular check on September 15, many trees are growing well, of which
two third of the trees have started to issue shoot, and one third of
tree species, although no new leaf shoots, the trees still survive,
with only 3% of mortality rate and the survival rate as high as 97%.
Translated by Kevin Li |
|
