Shannan has many kinds of fauna and flora. It abounds in qingke, barley, wheat, broad beans, peas, corn, buckwheat, and rape, making it one of the major grain and oil producing regions in Tibet. Vegetables include carrots, potatoes, cabbage, peppers, beans, tomatoes and pumpkins. Fruits include apples, pears, chestnuts, peaches and grapes. Shannan also teems with wild plant resources. There are several hundred medicinal plants. Its famous medicinal herbs include sinensis, fritillaria thunbergli, root of red salvia, Chinese angelica, root of hairy asiabell, matrimony vine, rehum officinale and saussurea involucrata. The principal timber stocks are poplar, willow, dahurian larch, hemlock, abies fabri, cypress and white birch.

Livestock include goats, sheep, yellow cattle, yaks, horses, donkeys, mules, pigs, chickens and ducks. There are also second-grade wild animals under State protection. They are the wild yak and the Tibetan antelope. In addition, there are also river deer, other deer, Mongolian gazelles, wild bulls, bears, leopards, monkeys, lynx, otters, snow pigs, snow cocks, eared pheasants, wild ducks, geese, geckoes and fish.

Proven mineral resources include chromium, gold, copper, iron, antimony, lead, zinc, manganese, muscovite, crystal, jade and marble. The reserves of the chromium have been verified at 5 million tones, accounting for 35 to 45 percent of the country's total. Average grade reaches 45 percent or more. Therefore, it boasts the biggest chromium resource base in China.

Shanan has many rivers and lakes and so it is rich in water resources. Its reserves of lake water stand at 17 billion cubic meters, and the volume of glaciers is about 1 billion cubic meters. The volume of underground water is about 23 billion cubic meters, with the annual runoff of more than 55 billion cubic meters. Theoretically the reserves of water energy resources in the region are 35.1 million kilowatts, and 18,300 kilowatts have been tapped. The hydroelectric power station at Yamzhog Yumco Lake has been completed and put into operation. The first-grade power station in Oiga has also been erected. These power stations have helped released the tensions on power supplies in Lhasa and the surrounding areas. In addition, Shannan also has abundant solar and wind energy resources.

Shannan attracts numerous Chinese and foreign tourists with its ancient cultural heritage, rich and strong national flavor, enchanting natural scenery, unique historical sites and other tourism resources. In 1998, the State Council announced Shannan's Yarlung River Valley has been selected as the first State level Yarlung scenic spot in Tibet.