[Objective] To study the spatial-temporal changes of vegetation cover in the past 14 years and its future trend in the upper reaches of the Heihe river in order to provide a support for the regional ecological protection.[Methods] Based on the MODSI-NDVI data from 2001 to 2014, we did the quantitative analysis by linear trend analysis and Hurst index.[Results] The vegetation cover in the study area had been improving slowly, showing a "volatility-improvement" trend on year scale, the mean NDVI decreased gradually from southeast to northwest and shows a meridional zonality. The area with increased vegetation cover accounted for 47.74%, whereas the area with deceased vegetation cover accounted for 21.81%. The improved areas are mainly distributed in the central and northwestern parts of study area with alpine steppe significantly improved. The degraded areas are mainly located in the southeast of study area with alpine meadow significantly degenerated. The vegetation cover in the upper reaches of the Heihe river will increase in the future.[Conclusion] The vegetation cover in the upper reaches of the Heihe river is high and the future trends of the vegetation cover is toward improving, but we need to take measures to protect areas still degenerating in Qilian, Minle and Shandan County.