A multi-million-dollar bid to reduce the risk of devastating floods on the Yangtze River, the world's third longest in China, has been drawn up by scientists, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) said on Saturday.

The ambitious scheme, the brainchild of researchers in China and at UNEP, aims to restore thousands of lost lakes and natural drainage systems so that the river, whose basin is home to 400 million people, can cope better during times of heavy and prolonged rains.

One of the main thrusts of the proposed initiative is to create Ecosystem Functions Conservation Areas in key sites including the headwaters of the Yangtze and its tributaries deemed vital for flood control, according to UNEP's press release.

Studies, carried out by UNEP in the wake of the devastating floods of 1998 in which millions were made homeless, have found that siltation of the river has also made it far more vulnerable to flooding.

The project plans to restore natural forests, grasslands and other key habitats in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze to reduce soil erosion and soil sweeping into the river.

Experts believe such project will not only increase the volume of water the Yangtze can hold but may help fight global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

China is one of the richest countries in the world for wildlife, with more than 3,000 species of higher plants and over 6,000 species of mammals, birds amphibians and reptiles.

The scientists believe the forestry and habitat restoration schemes will boost the prospects for many of these rare and endangered animals and plants including the giant panda, lesser panda, golden monkey, wild yak, white-lipped deer, Yangtze river dolphin, Yangtze alligator, Minjang cypress and dove tree.

News of the project came as Shafqat Kakakhel, deputy executive director of UNEP, signed an historic agreement in Beijing on Friday with the China State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).

The Letter of Agreement establishes a UNEP/SEPA Joint Center for an Environmental Information Network, which is designed to fulfill a number of important roles, including a Millennium Ecosystem Assessment for western China, where sit the headwaters of the Yangtze.

Another important role for the center will be to act as the data center for UNEP's North West Pacific Regional Seas Program.

"This is a very important agreement which will deepen and broaden cooperation between China and our organization," said UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer.

He pointed to the fact that with 22 percent of the world's population, China is globally as well as regionally important in respect to the environment.

"So it is planned to use the Beijing Olympic Games, to take place in 2008, as a focus for raising environmental awareness among the people of Beijing and the Chinese people as a whole, on issues such as energy efficiency, reducing pollution, tackling climate change and environmentally-friendly transport," he noted.

This will be a long-term initiative with the games acting as a springboard for this important awareness-raising work, Toepfer stressed.

Wang Qiao, new director of the joint center, said that SEPA sees this agreement as an important step forward in China's efforts to manage its growth in a sustainable and environmentally-sound way.

The proposed project on the 6,300 km-long river has been submitted to the Secretariat of the Global Environment Facility for approval, UNEP said, adding that the pilot phase of the project is expected to commence in December 2001. The full project, costing US$10 million, is scheduled to begin in May 2003.

(Xinhua News Agency 10/14/2001)