Province

Northwest Yunnan is located in the headwaters of three great rivers of Asia: (i) the Salween; (ii) the ; and (iii) the Yangtze. The riparian zones along these river courses are the most densely populated within the Project Area. Proper protection of the watersheds of these rivers is crucial, as they provide water supplies for tens of millions of Chinese living within , downstream of , China and Mainland Southeast Asia.

1. Biodiversity Attributes in NW Yunnan

(i) a Global Biodiversity Hotspot, being a part of Hengdu Mountain Ecosystem (Conservation International: Mittermeier and Mittermeier 1997);

(ii) a Global 200 List Priority Ecoregion for biodiversity conservation (WWF: Olsen and Dinerstein 1998);

(iv) a Center Diversity (IUCN/WWF: Davis et al. 1995).

Measured by its botanical attributes, NW Yunnan has been documented as the biologically richest temperate region in the world. The forests of NW Yunnan represent some of the last remaining large, intact tracts of primary forest in all of mainland .

Within , these forests were listed as Priority A for conservation by China''''s Ministry of Forestry in 1992 (MacKinnon et al. 1996). Rugged, parallel mountain ranges (with glaciated peaks exceeding ) and deep gorges (down to ) create a remarkable diversity of broad vegetation zones - spanning from subtropical to alpine - that transition progressively with altitude. The mountain ranges provide dispersal corridors for upland flora and fauna southeast from the Tibetan Plateau and southwest from the Sichuan Highlands. The river valleys provide dispersal corridors northeast from the Indo-Malayan lowlands and northwest from the East Asian lowlands. The same mountain ranges and gorges that have allowed adjacent floras and faunas to overlap here have also maintained sufficient isolation for significant evolution to occur in situ. As a result, the project area is characterized by some of the highest overall levels of species endemism and richness in the temperate zone. In addition, the area harbors an exceptionally high number of rare and vulnerable species, as well as some unique ecosystems.

(1) Endemic species

a. Of the 7,000 vascular plant species, 5,079 are endemic to , 2,988 are endemic to the Hengduan, and 910 are endemic to NW Yunnan (with 13 genera having 10 or more endemic species)

b. 49 endemic vertebrate genera

c. Rich in endemic species in the following additional categories: Uropsilinae, rodents, pikas, Oreolalaxinae, Sisoridae, Tripophysa, and the Parnassiinae family of butterflies