Dam proposed to address soil, flooding risks

Experts say plan would also help protect Tibetan antelope in remote Qinghai

Chinese environmental engineers and activists are advocating the construction of a dam to prevent the loss of frozen soil in the Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve in Qinghai province, an isolated region in the northwestern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau that was added to UNESCO's World Heritage list in 2017.

The proposed dam would be near the reserve's Zunai Lake, a major breeding area for the Tibetan antelope, said Lu Shanlong, a researcher at the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation and a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Aerospace Information Research Institute.