CIOB (Chartered Institute of Building) International News
March 21, 2002

‘Willingness to respond positively to the fears about the Nujiang hydro-power development would certainly further enhance [China’s] standing in an area of global policy which presents one of the 21st century’s greatest challenges.’

(excerpt)

London: Three of Asia’s great rivers running roughly parallel north to south in China’s Yunnan Province, containing the upper reaches of the Yangtze, Mekong and Salween (Nujiang), run through a national park protected by World Heritage status. The area is said to be an "epicentre of Chinese biodiversity", in fact one of the richest of its kind in the world. It is also a showplace of geological history, acclaimed as one of outstanding natural beauty.

The World Heritage Convention, promoted by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, is an internationally recognised instrument whereby sites of highest priority for conservation can be identified and protected. The policy of the Chinese Government in relation to the "Three Rivers" region has so far been to protect natural forest resources and to improve the ecological environment.

But in a time of strong economic expansion and growing demand for power to support it, the Chinese Government is looking for new sources of hydro-electric energy and is working on plans to harness the Nujiang for a project said to be even bigger than the Three Gorges scheme on the Yangtse.

The Three Parallel Rivers site earned its World Heritage status due to a remarkable combination of properties, as seen in the deep parallel gorges of the Jinsha, Lancang and Nujiang rivers.