China has launched a long-term protection plan of biological diversity in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, reports Monday's China Youth Daily.

The project, jointly initiated by the State Environmental Protection Administration and Nature Conservation China, will gradually be implemented across the country.

According to the plan, experts will begin by evaluating the biological diversity of southwest China's Sichuan Province and submit their recommendations to the provincial government.

The long-term protection plan will provide comprehensive and systematic support for biological diversity protection in China and help governments at various levels to take biological diversity protection into consideration when making decisions, according to the plan.

The deterioration of the biological environment, caused by rapid economic development and population growth, has harmed China's biological diversity and threatened China's sustainable development.

The National Development and Reform Commission, State Forestry Administration, State Oceanic Administration, Wildlife Conservation Society and World Wildlife Fund are all cooperative partners in the plan.

(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2006)