Sun Honglie, former vice director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a natural resources expert, proposed a new mechanism for coordinating animal and plant protection in the Yangtze river basin among all levels of government.

In particular, the scientists called for action to protect Yangtze fish species by establishing more fish conservation zones in the upper Yangtze and its tributaries, and enforcing a fishing ban in these areas. They also recommended further investigations of “life resources” and endorsed the principle of “development with environmental protection” for the Yangtze river valley.

Ma Zhengqi, vice mayor of Chongqing muncipality, which is at the upstream end of the Three Gorges reservoir, told the forum that hydro dams built on the Yangtze have fragmented the river. “In particular, building the Three Gorges dam has had a tremendous impact on the population, composition, and breeding of fish species due to the wider, deeper and slower-flowing reservoir.”

Cao Guangjing, vice manager of the Three Gorges Project Corporation, said that while hydropower is a clean form of energy and at least partially renewable, he recognized that more and more people are concerned about the impact of dams on the environment.

Translation by Three Gorges Probe