Beijing, Apr 11 (IANS): Chinese government will spend 1 billion yuan (about $161 million) in 2013 to protect Sanjiangyuan, a region which serves as the source of China's three biggest rivers, Xinhua reported.
The money will be spent on afforestation, wetland protection and the recovery of degraded grassland, said Li Xiaonan, vice director of the Qinghai Sanjiangyuan office.
2013 will mark the final year of a nine-year project intended to improve environmental protection in Sanjiangyuan --the source of Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers.
Lancang river, also known as the Mekong river in other countries, originates from China and flows through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
The region's ecology has significantly deteriorated in recent years due to global warming and excessive herding, leading the government to initiate a 7.5-billion-yuan environmental protection project in 2005.