A 5-million yuan ($790,000) donation has recently been made to help protect the natural and cultural legacy of Mount Wuyi in southeast China's Fujian Province. The money will be used to develop infrastructure, and improve the management of the World Heritage site.

Boasting remarkable biodiversity, Mount Wuyi was listed on United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) World Heritage sites in 1999. Mount Wuyi serves as a prime example of natural and cultural landscape in harmony with historical relics.

UNESCO officials and donors from Germany said Mount Wuyi is the seventh World Heritage site to receive such a donation.

Abhimanyu Singh, UNESCO's Beijing Representative said Mount Wuyi needs better protection.

While it has a flourishing tea industry spanning more than a century, its local tea farms have badly affected the environment. In addition, Mount Wuyi's 500 historical inscriptions on its rock faces are threatened by erosion and climate change and need urgent protection and restoration.

With such pressing issues, the program aims to conduct research on how the rock erodes, to help reduce its damage on the rock inscriptions. The program will also conduct surveys, establish a management system for the tea plantations, and carry out research on how to prevent soil erosion, and how to make the tea production process more environmentally-friendly.

The Green Legacy Program employs a host of protection measures based on the unique characteristics and needs of each site it benefits. It places great importance on achieving sustainability in carrying out practical protection of some of China's most beautiful natural sites.

(CNTV.cn September 13, 2012)