Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in southwest China, has made some achievements in protecting Lhalu Wetland, considered the world's highest wetland.

Lhalu Wetland, located in the suburbs of Lhasa and covering an area of 6.2 square kilometers, plays an important role in safeguarding ecological balance, preserving biodiversity, improving the climate and environment of Lhasa city.

To protect the wetland, Tibet has turned Lhalu into a regional nature reserve and is preparing for the promotion of the reserve to national status.

Lhasa City has drawn up a plan on protecting the nature reserveand enacted a regulation on administration of it.

A special administrative center has been set up to stop different kinds of damaging acts, with focus placed on cracking down on grassland destruction, wildlife poaching, and sand and stone digging around the wetland.

The administrative center has demolished a group of greenhouses,temporary earthen brick bungalows and shelters, open-air vegetable plots around the nature reserve. Two prefabricated concrete parts factories have also been moved out of the nature reserve.

Irrigation works in the reserve was improved and more than 7,500 trees were planted around the reserve for a better ecological environment.

Efforts have been made to lure rare and precious birds to the wetland nature reserve.

(Xinhua News Agency July 12, 2002)