AKIPRESS.COM - The Mongolian-Chinese-Russian Ecological and Engineering Center was recently opened in Lanzhou city of Gansu Province of China. The center is designed to deepen cooperation between the three neighboring countries in scientific and technological innovation and give new impetus to work in regional environmental and engineering research.

The center was founded by the Institute of Ecological Environment and Resources in Northwestern China under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Geography and Geoecology of the Academy of Sciences of Mongolia, and the Melnikov Permafrost Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The project was approved by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in September 2023.

The three states signed a memorandum of cooperation on joint research activities, the development of academic exchanges, the training of masters and graduate students following the center's opening ceremony.

According to the signed document, the center is ready to focus on such areas of research as changes in cryospheres in China, Mongolia and Russia and the impact of hydrological disasters, assessment of environmental impacts from engineering projects in permafrost zones and the prevention of diseases and other risks, control and prevention of desertification, as well as restoration of the environment.

A database of relevant information data and a monitoring platform will be created at the center, highly qualified personnel will be trained in ecology and engineering in cold-arid regions, and assistance will be provided in the implementation of "One Billion Trees" campaign in Mongolia.