By Gaurav Sharma,

Beijing : China spent $171 million on ecological conservation projects in Tibet in 2017.

In Southwest China, Tibet has several lakes that are the source of major water bodies including the Yangtze river. The autonomous region of China also has rich wildlife.

The projects range from grassland, wetland and wildlife protection to the construction of nature reserves and afforestation., Xinhua news agency said.

In 2009, China introduced a 23-year plan with a total spending of 15.5 billion yuan to boost ecological conservation in the region.

Statistics showed that in 2017, Tibet had 47 nature reserves covering 412,200 sq km or more than one-third of the region’s total territory.

Zhang Tianhua, deputy head of the regional environmental bureau, said the region has set up a special committee for monitoring the environment in Tibet and is cracking down on illegal activities in the nature reserves.

Over the past five years, more than 60 regulations on environmental protection have been introduced in Tibet. Authorities investigated nearly 1,000 cases of environmental breaches.

—IANS