File photo shows lakes in Madoi County of Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Golog, northwest China's Qinghai Province. (Xinhua/Wu Gang)

XINING, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Qinghai Province launched a plan to build a long-term mechanism to protect the ecosystem on the plateau, which is the source for some major rivers.

According to the plan, by 2020, Qinghai will complete the boundary surveys and establish nature protection areas in three categories -- national parks, nature reserves and natural parks -- and put them under unified management.

By 2035, Qinghai will improve management efficiency and the supply capacity of ecological products and build a nature protection system with Chinese characteristics.

At present, China has set up 11,800 nature reserves of various types, which play an important role in protecting biodiversity and maintaining ecological security. However, problems such as unscientific classification and regional overlapping still exist.

Zhang Jianlong, director of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said Qinghai, as a pilot province in the system of nature protection areas, should plan to set up new national parks and accumulate relevant experiences.

The Sanjiangyuan National Park in Qinghai was set up as the first national park in 2016. The park covers 123,100 square km and is home to many rare species.

Qinghai has established 217 nature reserves covering an area of 250,000 square km.