Source:
Xinhua| 3/21/19/Editor: xuxin
CHANGSHA, March 21 (Xinhua) --
Central China's Hunan Province has stopped operation of 34 hydropower plants
and demolished 10 dams in the past two years in a key reserve of giant
salamanders.
Municipal officials of
Zhangjiajie, a popular tourist destination, said they planned to demolish most
of the 88 hydropower plants, mainly small ones built before the establishment
of the National Giant Salamander Nature Reserve.
There are 3,000 kilometers of
rivers in the reserve, which was established in 1995 as a provincial level one
but upgraded to national level in 1996.
"More and most of the dams
will be demolished," said Hu Shenghu, head of the city's water conservancy
bureau. "Only those that have flood control, irrigation and water supply
functions will be retained.”
Officials and conservationists
have blamed the hydropower plants for blocking and fragmenting rivers and
hindering fish migration, reducing prey and habitats for the rare amphibians.
"We plan to dismantle all
dams that only had power-generating functions in the nature reserve before the
end of 2020 and reevaluate the functions of the rest," Hu said.
Ecologists have hailed the
decision to close the hydro projects as a milestone for habitat restoration of
giant salamanders, which date back 350 million years to the age of the
dinosaurs.
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