SHENZHEN — A total of 155 nature reserves exist on China’s Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, according to figures released at the ongoing 19th International Botanical Congress in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

The reserves cover more than 820,000 square kilometers, 32 percent of the plateau area.

Since the 1980s, the environment on the plateau has improved through protection of wetlands, grassland and deserts.

The plateau has many rare species of animals and plants and is an important gene bank, said Ge Song, secretary-general of the organizing committee of the congress.

On July 7, UNESCO declared the Hoh Xil nature reserve on the plateau a natural heritage site, the 51st Chinese site on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

China is home to one tenth of world’s plant species and has 2,740 nature reserves, 14.8 percent of the country’s land area.