Report: Vegetation Gradually Recovering in Quake-hit Jiuzhaigou
Jun 12, 2023
Jiuzhaigou Valley of southwest Sichuan Province, China is a famous UNESCO natural heritage site that was hit by a magnitude-7.0 earthquake in August 2017. Since then, things have improved and, on June 9, 2023, scientists from the The Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said vegetation in the whole area is gradually recovering.
Scenery of Jiuzhaigou Valley. /VCG
Stretching over 72,000 hectares in the northern part of Sichuan Province, Jiuzhaigou Valley is known for its spectacular waterfalls, lush forest, serene plateau lakes, and karst rock formations. It was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1992 and a World Biosphere Reserve in 1997.
The earthquake in 2017 damaged five of the 27 landscapes in the site. In response, the Sichuan government unveiled a 11.8 billion yuan reconstruction plan for Jiuzhaigou, and the whole renovation project was completed by 2020. In order to further promote the restoration and development of Jiuzhaigou, a research team from the AIR of CAS and International Center on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage (HIST) continuously monitors parameters including water environment and vegetation coverage.
The famous scenic spot Huohua Lake in Jiuzhaigou Valley. /VCG
According to the latest results, the vegetation at the site is close to the pre-earthquake level of about 82 percent. The water and the surrounding vegetation of Huohua Lake was greatly damaged in the earthquake, but both have recovered completely.
The report was released just one day before Cultural and Natural Heritage Day, which falls on the second Saturday of June each year. The day is celebrated annually with the aim of strengthening public awareness of the importance of safeguarding cultural and natural heritage.
Source: CGTN
News & Events