三峡工程是改善长江生态、保护环境的工程

逐水而居是人类生存的自然选择, 长江和地球上其他江河一样, 是人类文明的发祥地和生存繁衍的好居所。长江流域作为一个生态系统, 在自然因素和人类活动的影响下正在不断地演变中。由于水土流失、污染以及人类活动等, 加剧了次生环境的不平衡,使生态环境变得更加脆弱, 缓减和改善这种生态危机已刻不容缓。实践证明,工程措施是人类改善生态环境的有效途径之一。三峡工程防洪库容221.5亿m3,可有效地拦蓄宜昌以上的洪水,保护其下游1 500万人口和150万hm2田地,并能防止或减缓洞庭湖等长江中游湖泊的淤积萎缩,年均发电量约900亿kW·h,可大大减少二氧化碳及有害气体的排放,在总体上，有利于长江流域、全国乃至全球生态和环境的保护。

Three Gorges Project: a project for ecological improvement and environmental protection in Yangtze River Basin

Seeking water and earning their livelihoods is the natural selection of human beings. Like other rivers on the earth, the Yangtze River is the birthplace of human civilization and survival. As an ecosystem, the Yangtze River Basin is evolving under the influences of natural factors and human activities. Because of soil erosion, pollution and human activities, the imbalance of secondary environment is exacerbated and the ecological environment has become more vulnerable. It is urgent to mitigate and prevent the ecological crisis. The practice has proved that implementation of engineering measures is an effective way to improve the ecological environment. The Three Gorges Project (TGP) has a flood control storage capacity of 22.15 billion m3, effectively storing the flood water upstream of Yichang, and protects 15 million people and 1.5 million hm2 farmland. Furthermore, the project can prevent or slow down the sedimentation and shrinkage of the lakes in the middle Yangtze River such as Dongting Lake; with an average annual power generation of about 90 billion kW·h, it can significantly reduce CO2 and harmful gas emission. In general, the construction of TGP is conducive to the ecological and environmental protection in the Yangtze River Basin and China, even the world.