XINING -- China's first national park in the Sanjiangyuan area will open in 2020, the administration bureau said Wednesday.

The park in the southern part of northwest China's Qinghai Province was established to protect the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang (Mekong) rivers.

The administration bureau of Sanjiangyuan National Park started trial operations of the park, a vast wetland and grassland area on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, two years ago.

The bureau plans to increase the park's green coverage and wildlife species in the next two years, said Li Xiaonan, director of the administration bureau.

Sanjiangyuan literally means "the source of three rivers." The environment has degraded due to human activity such as overgrazing.

The Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve was established in Qinghai in 2000.

Under the national park management, herders and farmers will be turned into the central forces of environmental protection at Sanjiangyuan. The work is expected to provide jobs, boost incomes and give people an incentive to protect the environment.

The park is rich in wildlife, including endangered species such as the Tibetan antelope and the snow leopard.