Chang Tang Nature Reserve

Chang Tang National Nature Reserve
Location	China Nagqu Prefecture Nagqu Prefecture Nagqu Prefecture Nagqu Prefecture Nagqu Prefecture Rutog County, Ngari Prefecture Gêrzê County, Ngari Prefecture Gê'gyai County, Ngari Prefecture
Coordinates	30°N 88°E / 30°N 88°E / 30; 88
Area	334,000 km2 (128,958 mi2)
Established	1993

Chang Tang National Nature Reserve (

History

With assistance from the internationally renowned animal behaviourist and naturalist, George Schaller, the Chang Tang Nature Reserve was originally established by the government of Tibet Autonomous Region in 1993 to protect its fragile ecosystem. The reserve spans the vast and sparsely inhabited northern Tibetan Changtang plateau. The reserve had since been expanded over time. It was upgraded to a "National Protected Area" in April 2000 by the Chinese Government. It is currently listed as an IUCN Category: VI - Managed Resource Protected Area.^[2]

Geography

The

As the highest nature reserve in the world, the Chang Tang has an average altitude over 4,800 metres (16,000 feet) with "high rolling hills, and plains interspersed by mountains over 20,000 feet [6,000 metres] high." It is extremely cold in winter with temperatures dropping to minus 40 degrees at night. Travel is easier in the winter because summer can be very wet and vehicles get bogged easily.[3]

New reserves bordering the Chang Tang Nature Reserve have been added in recent years:

• The "Mid-Kunlun Reserve" is directly to the north of the Changtang Nature Reserve. It 32,000 km².^[4] and was established in 2001. It also borders the "Arjin Shan (or "Altun Tagh") Reserve" on its east.
• The "Xianza Reserve" Nature Reserve in the Tibet Autonomous Region is 40,000 km²,^[1] and is directly to the south of the Chang Tang Nature Reserve. It was established in 1993 and contains the Siling Lake.
• The "Arjin Shan (or "Altun Tagh") Reserve," 45,000 sq. km in the
  Xinjiang Autonomous Region, was established in 1983, is to the northeast of the Chang Tang Nature Reserve.^[5]
• The "
  Qinghai Province, is 45,000 km²,^[1]
  and was established in 1995. It borders the "Mid-Kunlun Reserve" to the south (and is to the east of the Chang Tang Nature Reserve).

It is home to only a few Tibetan nomads and various park staff hired to prevent poaching.

Flora and fauna

Here are some of the last remaining herds of wild

The vegetation is open shrubland and grasslands mainly dominated by Stipa grasses and Kobresia species ("bog sedges").^[2]

See also

• Protected areas of China

References

Citations

Sources

• Dorje, Gyurme. (2009) Footprint Tibet Handbook. 4th Edition. Bath, U.K.
• Ridgeway (2003). "275 miles on foot through the remote Chang Tang." Rick Ridgeway, photos by Galen Rowell. National Geographic Magazine. April 2003 ([1]).
• "Snow Leopard Survival Strategy." (2003) Edited by Thomas M. McCarthy & Guillaume Chapron. Downloadable as pdf from: [2]
• Daniel Miller (2003). "Tibet: Environmental Analysis.". Downloadable from: [3]

External links

• Downloadable
  National Geographic map [4]
• Wildlife Conservation Society, "Saving Wild Places - Chang Tang, Tibetan Plateau - China" at the Wayback Machine (archived August 21, 2007) / "Saving Wild Places - Chang Tang, Tibetan Plateau - China"
• American Biologist Praises Tibetan Wildlife Conservation (07/11/03).
• Care 4 Nature, "Habitat of Chiru".
• "A Resurgence of Wildlife in Northern Tibet" by Alex Chadwick.
• A Conversation with Dr. George Schaller
• HKH Conservation Portal, "Changthang National Protected Area" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
• Qinghai kekexili Nature Reserve