Moirigkawagarbo—a natural sacred land with a great diversity of landscapes, eco-environments and organisms

The Moirigkawagarbo (Meili Snow Mountains), located in the core area of the “three parallel rivers” region, is a branch of the Hengduan Mountains formed simultaneously with the Qinghai-Qinghai Plateau. The unique geomorphic landscape of snow mountains accompanied by deep gorges is a typical scene created by earth evolution. Therefore the Moirigkawagarbo is also one of the most distinct sites showing the linking relations of mutual evolutions of structural complexity→diversity of geomorphic landscapes (and diversity of climatic conditions)→diversity of ecological environments→biodiversity. In this paper an attempt is made to use the Moirigkawagarbo and Lancang River gorge of the Dêqên area as an example and take the formation and evolution of structures as the basis to explain mutual evolutions and linking relations between various diversities, and by means of these the paper popularizes geoscience knowledge about tourism and puts forward suggestions about the protection, development and management of scenic areas.