
Figure ①: Yinchuan Riverside Yellow River Bridge standing on the Yellow River. Photo by Wen Li (People’s Vision)
Figure ②: Migratory birds gather in the wetland park. People’s vision
Figure ③: Scenery of Helan Mountain. People’s vision
Figure ④: A glimpse of Shahu Scenic Area in Shizuishan City, Ningxia. People’s vision
Establishing ecological zones and building green barriers
People’s Daily reporter Li Zenghui Lei Zhu Liu Feng
Holding a green mountain is to build a green barrier in the northwest of the motherland. In June 2017, the Twelfth Party Congress of Ningxia took "beautiful environment" as an important development goal and ecological establishment as one of the "three strategies". For the first time, the construction of ecological security barrier in northwest China was placed in a prominent position in the development of the whole region from a political, strategic and overall perspective.
You can hear frogs in the ditch on summer nights.
In the summer harvest season, the wheat in Ningxia irrigation area has been harvested and returned to the warehouse, and a new round of irrigation has begun.
In Zhaoqu Village, Xiakou Town, Qingtongxia City, Nangangou, Guo Zhongfu, a full-time water area cleaner, takes the salvage tools issued by the company every day to patrol the river, salvage aquatic plants and pick up garbage along the 2 km long channel he is responsible for. "In the past two days, the crops have been flooded upstream, and there are more aquatic plants in the ditch. It needs to be salvaged continuously to ensure that the water quality of the ditch is not affected." Guo Zhongfu said, "Since the implementation of the river length system, the water in Nangan ditch has become clearer and clearer, and frogs can be heard in the ditch in summer nights."
In 2018, the water quality of Nangangou has been upgraded from inferior V to IV. Nowadays, the ditches on both sides of Nangan ditch are clean and the river is clear, and rows of locust trees along the line dress up the whole river.
It’s not just Nangangou that listens to frogs. In 2017, Ningxia fully implemented the river length system, starting from the Weihe River in Longde County, Liupanshan District in the south and reaching the North Wudang River in Dawukou District, Shizuishan City in the north. Regardless of the river and creek, pieces of river length public signs stood on the shore, which has become a landscape.
In the past two years, Ningxia has invested 1.219 billion yuan in special funds for water pollution prevention and control, comprehensively improving the ecology of rivers and lakes such as tributaries of the Yellow River, key lakes and key drainage ditches, realizing centralized treatment of wastewater in 21 provincial-level and above industrial parks, building artificial wetland projects in suitable areas for 12 key drainage ditches into the Yellow River, rectifying 13 black and odorous water bodies in prefecture-level cities, and banning all direct drainage outlets into the Yellow River. In April this year, among the six state-controlled sections in Ningxia section of the Yellow River, the sections of Jinsha Bay and Ye Sheng Highway Bridge were Grade I excellent water quality, while others were Grade II excellent water quality.
"Green Water Tower" on the Loess Plateau
Liupan Mountain in midsummer is cool and pleasant, and it is a rare summer resort. Not long ago, a video of a young leopard taking a leisurely walk along the mountain road with its mother became popular during a patrol by forest rangers.
Liupan Mountain is a part of the key ecological function area of soil and water conservation in hilly and gully areas of the Loess Plateau in China. The tributaries of the Yellow River, such as Jinghe River, Qingshui River and Hulu River, originate here, and the annual runoff of nearly 300 million cubic meters directly benefits the surrounding population of more than 2 million, so it is called the "green water tower" on the Loess Plateau.
However, in the middle of last century, the natural secondary forest was seriously damaged due to disorderly deforestation, and the forest coverage rate here was less than 30%, and the "green water tower" was in jeopardy. Accurately and scientifically artificial afforestation and soil and water conservation have become the primary task of ecological protection in Liupanshan. Wang Shuanggui, deputy director of the Liupanshan National Nature Reserve Administration, said: "Because of the uneven distribution of rainfall in summer, the key to greening projects lies in adapting to local conditions and accurately afforestation to ensure that one piece is made, one piece is alive and one piece is forested."
To this end, Guyuan, Ningxia has launched the "Afforestation and Greening Project in the Key Ecological Function Area of Liupanshan with precipitation above 400 mm", and it is planned to complete afforestation and upgrade 2.6 million mu from 2017 to 2020. At present, the forest coverage rate in Liupanshan has reached 64.5%, the number of wild animals in the forest area has gradually increased, and the biodiversity has shown a virtuous circle.
"Now, when driving a patrol, I am often surprised by the pheasant that suddenly comes out." Wang Shuanggui laughed. Decades of ecological construction have formed a broad forest belt between Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi, Longshan Mountains in Gansu and Liupanshan Mountains in Ningxia, forming a green channel for animals to migrate north and south, and rare animals such as hairy deer and leopard have migrated with it.
Life is really good when the environment is good.
The yellow sand is rolling, but you can’t see the road. Follow the camel bell to find Ningxia. This used to be a true portrayal of Ningxia being trapped by sand. However, the plight of being surrounded by sand on three sides not only failed to defeat Ningxia people, but also made it the first province in the country to implement the whole region grassland grazing prohibition and enclosure, the first province in the country to realize the reversal of desertification, and the first province in the country and the first province in the northwest to complete the red line delineation.
In Yanchi County, Wuzhong City, on the southern edge of the Mu Us Desert, after years of sand resistance and tenacious greening, people entered and the sand retreated.
"In those days, we were grazing sheep indiscriminately, which made us suffer from sand damage. Capturing after grazing prohibition, although the breeding cost is high, the environment is good and the days are really good. " Fan Zhiwei, who established a breeding cooperative in Nantai Village, Shijiquan, Gaoshawo Town, Yanchi County, said that in 2012, he and his brother built a standardized beach sheep breeding park with more than 300,000 yuan accumulated from working, and led the whole village to learn technology and open up sales by holding training courses. Today, 68 villagers have joined the cooperative, and the per capita annual income of families has increased by more than 1,000 yuan.
Not long ago, the two brothers raised more than 4 million yuan by themselves, created nearly 1,000 mu of high-efficiency water-saving irrigation farmland and grassland, and planted more than 30,000 trees for water conservation and ecology. The ecology is good, the scale of beach sheep breeding reaches 20 thousand, and the sales volume reaches nearly 6 million yuan.
Nowadays, the brand of "Yanchitan Sheep" is getting louder and louder, and it has become the "No.1 industry" for the poor people in Yanchi County to get rid of poverty and enrich the people. Yanchi County not only took off the poverty hat, but also successively won back the honors of "National Advanced Collective for Sand Prevention and Control" and "National Advanced Greening County". Up to now, the forest preservation area in Yanchi County has reached 3.85 million mu, and more than 2 million mu of sandy land has been covered with green clothes. The open sand dunes over 100 mu have been basically eliminated, and the annual sand blowing weather has decreased from 54 times 10 years ago to 9 times now.
The green color, which keeps advancing into the desert, tells the eternal oath of generations of Ningxia people to protect green waters and green mountains. Today, there are more than 20 species of psammophytes in Ningxia, and now there are 453 species. It is planned to complete afforestation of 5 million mu by 2022, and the forest coverage rate in the whole region will increase to 16%. Ningxia is striding forward to build an important ecological security barrier in the northwest of the motherland.
The former mine turned into a garden.
People’s Daily reporter Liu Feng Lei Zhu
Standing on Helan Mountain, looking at Daleng ditch, 2000 mu of locust tree forest along the ditch paved the bottom of the ditch from south to north, and the wind blew, and there was a gust of breeze in the mountains … … Who would have thought that 40 coal washing plants were laid along the ditch two years ago, and the roads were muddy and dusty everywhere. "Compared with the previous coal ash, it is completely different now." Wu Shaoshan, head of the integrated comprehensive improvement headquarters of Helan Mountain Nature Reserve, said.
Located in the north of Helan Mountain in Shizuishan City, it is rich in coal resources. After more than 60 years of mining, the mountain is devastated, revealing the "wounds" cut by shovels, explosives and excavators. In 2017, Shizuishan City made up its mind to rectify the years of sinking. Blocking exploration holes, backfilling mines, demolishing buildings, planting grass and trees … … Over the past two years, Shizuishan City has rectified and restored 244 mining damage points.
However, the difficulty of mine management is beyond imagination. The soil layer is thin, sprinkle with grass seeds, and it will be washed away when it rains; The soil contains so much sulfur that some tree species can’t live at all. In the process of treatment, Shizuishan adopts the method of combining engineering measures with biological measures, backfilling soil and slag, building intercepting and drainage ditches, and planting turf and seedlings in imitation of ecology. In 2019, Shizuishan City comprehensively rectified six ecological restoration projects around the main ditch of Helan Mountain and two main slag platforms of carboniferous wells, continued to implement afforestation and planted drought-resistant and salt-tolerant native tree species. At present, more than 80,000 seedlings such as Elaeagnus angustifolia and Robinia pseudoacacia have been planted.
Ecological restoration creates ecological wealth. "Abandoned mines and pits have successfully turned into ecological gardens behind the village, attracting more tourists to enjoy flowers and travel." Gao Liang, secretary of the Party branch and director of the village committee of Longquan Village, Dawukou District, Shizuishan City, said that in 2018, the total number of tourists received in the village reached 178,000, and the per capita net income of farmers reached 16,900 yuan.
Ten thousand acres of desert have a new look.
People’s Daily reporter Yu Limin
On the southern edge of Tengger Desert in the northwest of shapotou district, zhongwei, Ningxia, natural disasters such as harsh ecological environment, sparse vegetation, strong winds and sandstorms occur frequently, but Ningxia Xiangyan Industry Group Co., Ltd. has set up a site here — — "When I first came, I didn’t say anything about planting trees first!" Yang Fei, the founder of the company, has a firm tone.
"At that time, the government allocated me 10,000 mu of sand for free, and built infrastructure such as roads and protective belts on the outskirts of the desert, which greatly encouraged the enthusiasm of developing industries in the desert." It is not easy to control the desert, but Yang Fei saw the "green prospect" behind the desert.
For a long time, the sandbar has a new look. Through leveling the desert, planting strip-shaped shelterbelts and other three-dimensional sand barriers, using water-saving drip irrigation technology, and adopting a combination of biological measures, engineering measures and farming and gardening measures to fix sand, the Yang Fei team improved the original desert by comprehensive sand control, totaling 10,000 mu.
"Cattle breeding in dry desert will reduce the incidence of diseases in dairy cows, and in addition, because the sand is soft, cows will be very comfortable to lie on." Walking in the standardized breeding base of 10,000 cows of Ningxia Xiangyan Industry Group Co., Ltd., Liu Jingjing, general manager, introduced the company’s benefits from sand control in recent years. What used to be a 10,000-mu desert has changed greatly now. It is not only an agricultural industrial desert park integrating ecology, sand control, sightseeing, facility farming and animal husbandry production, but also a construction point of the grass and livestock industry core area of zhongwei National Agricultural Science and Technology Industrial Park.
"Northwest Water Town" bright signboard
Qin Lei, Lei Zhu
In the early morning, Yuan He, a resident of Yinchuan, Ningxia, strolled in Haibao Park, which is only three to five minutes’ walk from the community. It has become a habit to "wake up with the sound of birds and wash your eyes with green".
More than 50 years ago, Yuan He came to Saishang Yinchuan from Wenzhou, Zhejiang. Now, when introducing Yinchuan to relatives and friends in my hometown, I will always call it "Northwest Water Town". Walking on this land, the lakes are dotted and rippling, and the charming scenery is panoramic.
On October 25, 2018, at the 13th Conference of the Parties to the International Convention on Wetlands, Yinchuan stood out among many candidate cities at home and abroad and won the honor of "International Wetland City", which is also a laurel with high specifications, heavy weight and sufficient gold content in urban wetland ecological protection in the world.
"If you want lakes and waters, you must invest real money." Lv Jinhu, deputy director of Yinchuan Wetland Management Office, is quite proud of this. Since the beginning of the new century, Yinchuan has established the general plan of "establishing the city by ecology", raised the wetland protection work to an unprecedented strategic height, and made great efforts to build a northwest water town with "the city in the lake and the lake in the city". Since 2009, Yinchuan City has invested a total of about 3.45 billion yuan in wetland protection projects, and included the daily work funds of wetland management in the fiscal budget, and allocated about 3.5 million yuan at the district and city levels every year. At present, there are five national wetland parks, one national urban wetland park and six autonomous regional wetland parks in Yinchuan.
Nowadays, every spring, countless red-billed gulls gather in Swallow Lake to be fed by the citizens. According to statistics, at present, there are 19,200 hectares of wetlands in the three districts of Yinchuan City, and there are nearly 200 natural lakes and swamp wetlands. The value of ecological services provided by the lake wetland ecosystem in Yinchuan City has reached 1.303 billion yuan every year.
Layout design: Shen Yiling