LHASA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Tibet will continue to strengthen ecological protection with more investment earmarked for 2019, a local government official said Thursday.

There will be a 20-percent growth of investment in ecological protection in 2019, said Qizhala, chairman of the regional government, in his government work report delivered Thursday at the second session of the 11th People's Congress of Tibet Autonomous Region.

The region will continue making efforts in protecting its forests, grasslands, wetlands and biodiversity, building ecological safety barrier, and curbing desertification and soil erosion, said Qizhala.

Last year, 10.7 billion yuan (1.58 billion U.S. dollars) was invested in ecological safety barrier protection and construction. A total of 75,000 hectares of trees were planted, with the forest coverage rate increased to 12.14 percent, the report said.

Also, over 13,000 river and lake chiefs were designated in the region in 2018, according to the report.