China to build observation station to protect Pamir Plateau

China will build an observation station in Taxkorgan County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China, to improve the ecology of Pamir Plateau.

Pamir Plateau was once a busy passage used by traders traveling along the ancient Silk Road.

The station will be used by researchers concerned with water resources, biodiversity, grassland productivity, climate change, and disaster warning and forecasting, said Lei Jiaqiang, director of the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Field observation could also help the local community improve agriculture and livestock production efficiency and support the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Lei said.

The Pamir Plateau Ecosystem Scientific Observation Station will be the tenth built by the institute in the country and will be run by the institute and the administration bureau of Taxkorgan Nature Reserve.

Situated in the west of the Pamir Plateau and some 300 kilometers from Kashgar City, Taxkorgan borders Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

Lei said that the station would also facilitate scientific cooperation between China, its neighbors and international organizations.

The institute has built 15 field observational stations with countries in Central Asia. Endit