Chang Tang Nature Reserve

Lore & Background

The Chang Tang Nature Reserve was originally established by the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region in 1993, with assistance from internationally renowned animal behaviourist and naturalist George Schaller. It was upgraded to a 'National Protected Area' in April 2000 by the Chinese Government. The reserve spans the vast and sparsely inhabited northern Tibetan Changtang plateau, which is the highest nature reserve in the world, with an average altitude over 4,800 metres and temperatures dropping to minus 40 degrees Celsius at night in winter.

The reserve has been expanded over time, and adjoining reserves have been established, including the Mid-Kunlun Reserve (2001), Xainza Reserve (1993), Arjin Shan Reserve (1983), and Kekexili National Reserve (1995). Together, these connected reserves total 496,000 km², an area almost as large as Spain. Two more reserves have been proposed to further protect the range and migration routes of the chiru.

The reserve is home to only a few Tibetan nomads and park staff hired to prevent poaching. Its wildlife includes wild yak, Tibetan wild ass, blue sheep, argali, Tibetan gazelle, and chiru, whose wool is smuggled to Kashmir for shahtoosh shawls. Predators include snow leopards, Tibetan wolves, Turkestan lynx, and Tibetan blue bears.

Reader's Guide

Chang Tang Nature Reserve is significant as one of the world's largest protected areas and the highest nature reserve, preserving a unique high-altitude ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau. Its establishment in 1993, with help from George Schaller, marked a key step in conserving rare species like the chiru (Tibetan antelope), whose fine wool is illegally smuggled for shahtoosh shawls. The reserve and its adjoining protected areas now cover 496,000 km², nearly the size of Spain, creating a vast sanctuary for wild ungulates and predators. The reserve also protects the traditional lands of a few Tibetan nomads and employs staff to combat poaching. Its legacy includes serving as a model for high-altitude conservation and highlighting the challenges of protecting migratory species across political boundaries. The proposed expansion of reserves aims to safeguard the entire range and spring migration routes of female chiru, underscoring the reserve's ongoing importance for biodiversity conservation in Central Asia.

Did You Know?

• Chang Tang Nature Reserve is the third-largest land nature reserve in the world, after Northeast Greenland National Park and Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area.
• The reserve has an average altitude over 4,800 metres (16,000 feet), making it the highest nature reserve in the world.
• Winter temperatures can drop to minus 40 degrees Celsius at night.
• The chiru (Tibetan antelope) found in the reserve produces wool considered the finest known, which is smuggled to Kashmir, India for shahtoosh shawls.

Colossal Scale on the Roof of the World

The Chang Tang National Nature Reserve occupies a staggering expanse of the northern Tibetan Plateau, covering more than 334,000 square kilometres. That figure places it as the third-largest land-based nature reserve on Earth, trailing only the Northeast Greenland National Park and the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area. To put its dimensions into perspective, the reserve alone is larger than 183 sovereign nations. Administratively, it stretches across Xainza and Biru counties within the Nagqu Prefecture. The name "Chang Tang" translates from Tibetan as "Northern Plain," a fitting descriptor for the vast high-altitude landscape it encompasses. The broader Changtang plateau itself extends from Ladakh in India, across northern Tibet into Qinghai Province, and northward into the Nanshan mountains of Xinjiang, with the reserve covering most of the Chinese segment. In recent years, several adjoining protected areas have been added, pushing the total connected reserve network to roughly 496,000 square kilometres—an area nearly matching that of Spain and exceeding the territory of 197 other countries.

From Schaller's Vision to National Status

The reserve's origins trace back to 1993, when the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region formally established it to shield the fragile ecosystem of the sparsely populated northern plateau. A pivotal figure in that effort was George Schaller, the internationally celebrated animal behaviourist and naturalist, whose expertise and advocacy helped shape the initial conservation framework. Over the following years, the reserve's boundaries were progressively expanded. A major milestone came in April 2000, when the Chinese Government elevated its status to a National Protected Area. Today it carries the IUCN Category VI designation, classifying it as a Managed Resource Protected Area. The surrounding landscape has also seen a wave of new protected zones: the Mid-Kunlun Reserve to the north (32,000 km², 2001), the Xianza Reserve to the south (40,000 km², 1993), the Arjin Shan or Altun Tagh Reserve to the northeast (45,000 km², 1983), and the Kekexili Reserve to the east (45,000 km², 1995). Two additional reserves are still in the proposal stage. If approved, they would safeguard the vast majority of the chiru's range and nearly all spring migration corridors used by female Tibetan antelopes.

A Living Mosaic of High-Altitude Wildlife

The Chang Tang plateau shelters some of the last remaining wild ungulate herds on Earth. Among them are the wild yak, the Tibetan wild ass (kiang), the Himalayan blue sheep, the argali, the Tibetan gazelle, and the Tibetan antelope, or chiru. The chiru's undercoat is regarded as the finest natural fibre known, a fact that has made it a target for smugglers who transport the wool to Kashmir, India, where it is woven into luxury shahtoosh shawls. Above these grazing species sit formidable predators: snow leopards, Tibetan wolves, Turkestan lynx, and the rare Tibetan blue bear. At the base of the food web, vast populations of pika scurry across the terrain. The vegetation supporting this entire web is predominantly open shrubland and grassland, dominated by Stipa grasses and Kobresia species, commonly called bog sedges. This combination of extreme altitude, sparse human presence, and relatively intact predator-prey dynamics makes the reserve one of the most ecologically significant high-altitude ecosystems remaining on the planet.

Life at the Roof of the World

Few places on Earth present conditions as harsh as the Chang Tang plateau. As the highest nature reserve in the world, it sits at an average elevation exceeding 4,800 metres, with a terrain of high rolling hills and plains broken by peaks rising above 6,000 metres. Winters are brutally cold, with nighttime temperatures plunging to minus 40 degrees Celsius. Paradoxically, winter is actually the more practical season for travel, because the summer months bring heavy moisture that turns tracks into mud and leaves vehicles hopelessly bogged down. Human presence is vanishingly thin: the reserve is home to only a small number of Tibetan nomads and a handful of park staff whose primary duty is to deter poaching. This near-total absence of permanent settlement, combined with the extreme climate and remoteness, has allowed the ecosystem to remain remarkably undisturbed. The result is a landscape where the rhythms of wild herds, stalking predators, and hardy alpine grasses play out with very little human interference, making it a rare and irreplaceable window into high-altitude ecology.