Xinhua
October 24, 2006

Chengdu: China’s large-scale hydropower exploitation of the Yangtze River’s upper reaches pose no risk to nearby giant panda habitats, experts said here Friday. The climate changes in the area due to the hydropower projects would in fact be conducive to giant panda survival, said Yu Jianqiu, vice director of Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Center. During the past 20 years, China has completed or started more than ten large hydropower stations each with a capacity of at least three million kilowatts on the upper Yangtze. In addition to small and medium-sized hydropower stations, the total capacity in the area was about five times greater than the Three Gorges hydropower station, said China’s Ministry of Water Resources. On Sunday, the six-million-kilowatt Xiangjiaba hydropower station will start operations. Yu said more than 100 wild giant pandas lived in the drainage area of the stations and this had sparked widespread concern that they might affect the natural environment of the giant panda habitats. But the expert said most of the concerns were “unnecessary” because all the projects were built or planned on the Yangtze mainstream, far from the giant panda habitats. The Mamize Natural Reserve was the closest habitat at about 50 kilometers from the Xiluodu station, which was under construction, Yu said.