China to build an observation station on the Pamir plateau

Almaty. April 10. Silkroadnews – To improve the environment in the Pamir plateau China plans to build an observation station in the Taxkorgan-Tajik autonomous district of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Xinhua news agency reports.

According to Lei Jiaqiang, director of the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the new station will be used to research water resources, biodiversity, grassland productivity, monitor climate change, warn and forecast disaster.

The field observation can also help the local population to improve the efficiency of agricultural and livestock production, as well as support the construction of the economic corridor China-Pakistan, the scientist added.
Lei Jiaqiang believes, the new station will also contribute to China’s scientific cooperation with neighboring countries and international organizations.

The scientific station for observing the ecosystem of the Pamir plateau will become the tenth station the XIEG Institute built across the country. It will be run by the XIEG and the administration of the Taxkorgan Nature Reserve.
The Taxkorgan county, located in the western part of the Pamir plateau and 300 km from the city of Kashgar, borders Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

Thus far XIEG, working together with the countries of Central Asia, has built 15 observational stations.