The television tower on the Golden Summit of Mount Emei in southwestern China's Sichuan Province is being dismantled to better protect the vegetation on the mountain famous for its Buddhist culture.

The electromagnetic radiation from the tower is believed to be detrimental to the growth of plants on the mountain, which was listed a World Natural and Cultural Heritage in 1996 by the United Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Song Yunhuai, the project leader, said the decision to remove the tower from the summit, called Jinding in Chinese, showed local authorities had taken a further step in environmental protection on the mountain.

More than 10 research institutions have been established to protect the biological diversity of the mountain, including an examination center for plant disease, a seed strain nursing base and a biology laboratory.

Boasting numerous geological features and fossils, over 3,200 species of plants and more than 2,300 species of wildlife, Mount Emei is known as an "ancient kingdom of plants and animals," and a "geological museum."

The management commission of the mountain has zoned an area of 154 square kilometers of the mountain range as A-level preserve, where only scientists and researchers are allowed to go.

Some 500 farming households in the A-level preserve have been relocated, and Song said the 17,000 farming population currently still living in the scenic area will also be displaced. The relocation plan is waiting for the approval of local authorities.

According to Song, more than 2,000 hectares of farms on the edge of the scenic area have been reforested since 1999.

The commission also regulated the number of visitors to the mountain to no more than 1.1 million a year.

According to Song, there is no denuded land on the mountain and woods cover over 95 percent of the mountain area.

A ban on hunting and on the serving of game in restaurants in the mountain had led to a dramatic rise in the number of wildlife such as boars and bears, which were once rarely seen in the mountain.

(Xinhua News Agency August 28, 2003)