Chinanews, Beijing, August 10 – An official from the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) said in an interview given to a reporter of the Legal Daily that China should make Dunhuang a nature reserve to protect its fragile ecoenvrionment.Dunhuang is located at the east edge of the Kumtagh Desert, where the climate is extremely dry. With more and more visitors coming here, Dunhuang’s ecoenvironment is greatly damaged to the extent that it might be beyond repair in a few years if nothing is done to protect it.Several rivers and lakes are now drained and the level of groundwater has also dropped fiercely. Sandstorms have been more and more ferocious. The degradation of the ecoenvironment is posing a fatal threat to the famous Dunhuang Grottos and the cultural relics in them.Thus to protect Dunhuang will not only help to maintain a precious oasis in the desert and its biodiversity, but also to preserve the historical treasures there.