Bitahai Lake Nature Reserve

Located in Shangri-La county, Diqing Tibetan autonomous prefecture, northwestern Yunnan Province, the Bitahai Lake Nature Reserve is at the core of the Hengduan Mountain range with the northernmost latitude and highest altitude in Yunnan, and was listed as an internationally important wetland by the Ramsar Convention.

The reserve was included in the Wetlands of International Importance List in December, 2004. It mainly protects a plateau lake and meadows, and the cold-temperate coniferous forest ecosystem around the lake, as well as rare animals like Diptychus chungtiensis Tsao and Grus nigricollis.

The Bitahai Lake wetland is of the type that includes lake wetlands, alpine wetlands and herbaceous peatlands. and is a unique type of alpine ice lake wetland nourished by primitive alpine and subalpine cold-temperate coniferous forest ecosystems.

Bitahai Lake controls the flow of water from the surrounding forests, and plays an important role in soil and water conservation and flood control. It balances and regulates water amounts in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

Its distinctive ecosystem provides food and resting places for migratory water birds, making it one of their most important wintering grounds in China.