Current Politics Micro Observation | Long term efforts to win this tough battle and construction project | Three North | Current Politics
He emphasized that strengthening the comprehensive prevention and control of desertification, deepening the construction of key ecological projects such as the "Three North", is related to China's ecological security, the construction of a strong country, and the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. It is a noble cause that benefits the present and the future.
2021-2030 is the construction period of the sixth phase of the "Three North" project, a crucial period for consolidating and expanding the achievements of sand prevention and control, and a crucial period for promoting the high-quality development of the "Three North" project.
How to build the "Three North" project into a fully functional and unbreakable green Great Wall and ecological security barrier in northern Xinjiang?
General Secretary made an important deployment - "Strive to fight a tough battle on the 'Three North' project in about 10 years.".
Tracing the origin of the "Three North" project, an important purpose is to prevent and control desertification, and to do a good job in desertification prevention and control.
Desertification, also known as "the cancer of the earth". Desertification control is a global challenge facing humanity.
At the symposium held on the 6th, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The ecological disasters caused by desertification, wind and sand hazards, and soil erosion restrict the economic and social development of the Three Norths and pose a challenge to the survival and development of the Chinese nation."
△ On June 6, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a symposium on strengthening the comprehensive prevention and control of desertification and promoting the construction of key ecological projects such as the "Three Norths" in Bayannaoer, Inner Mongolia, and delivered an important speech.
But in China's desertification control, there is a spirit and perseverance of not bowing down in the face of difficulties and daring to call the desert an oasis.
According to the overall plan, the "Three North" project started in 1978 and ended by 2050, with 4.069 million square kilometers of afforestation in the northwest, north and northeast of China, which is close to the size of half of China. It is the world's largest desertification control project.
In addition to the construction of the "three north" shelter forest system project, China has also successively implemented a number of key ecological projects such as returning farmland to forests and grasslands, and harnessing the sources of sandstorms in Beijing and Tianjin. Significant achievements have been made in desertification prevention and control, showing a good trend of overall suppression of desertification and continuous reduction of desertification area.
In 2020, a statistical data from the Shaanxi Provincial Forestry Bureau showed that the desertification land governance rate in Yulin was as high as 93.24%, and the green territory of Shaanxi has advanced more than 400 kilometers northward. The Maowusu Desert, with a history of over a thousand years, will be "driven away" in Shaanxi.
The Maowusu Desert has become a "Maowusu Oasis". UN environmental expert Bowen exclaimed, "This is a miracle in the history of world desertification control!"!
△ Greening of the Mu Us Desert
From 2012 to the end of 2021, China has completed a total of 282 million mu of land desertification control tasks, and key control areas have achieved a historic transformation from "sand entering and people retreating" to "green entering and sand retreating", creating a human miracle of desert turning into oasis and wasteland turning into forest and sea.
In front of our achievements, we also need to recognize that the situation of desertification prevention and control in China is still severe, and the work of desertification prevention and control is long-term, arduous, repetitive, and uncertain.
What does it rely on to plant greenery in the once barren, severely desertified, and barren desert?
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the General Secretary's "Three Norths" footprint has the answer.
△ Babusha Forest Farm in Gulang County, Wuwei, Gansu Province
The Babu Sand Forest Site is located at the southern edge of Tengger Desert. The story of "six old men and three generations" in sand control here is still continuing.
On August 21, 2019, during an inspection in Gansu, General Secretary Xi Jinping bumped all the way along the gravel road to the Babusha Forest Farm. Seeing the patches of green space in the yellow sand, the general secretary was very happy: "China has created the largest plantation in the world and has made great contributions to global ecological protection."
"The new era needs more contemporary fools and models of the times like the 'six old man." General Secretary Xi Jinping encouraged everyone to continue to carry forward the contemporary foolish spirit of the "six old men", make persistent efforts, make new contributions, and make contributions for a long time to make the green Great Wall indestructible.
△ On August 23, 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping paid a cordial visit to the forest rangers Liu Jun and Wang Juan during an inspection tour of Moon Mountain in Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm, Hebei Province.
In Saihanba, Hebei, General Secretary advocates for the Saihanba spirit: "To promote ecological civilization construction, we must rely on both material and spiritual aspects. We must inherit the Saihanba spirit, deeply understand and implement the concept of ecological civilization, continue to work hard and start a new business, and make contributions on the new journey of achieving the second centenary goal."
In Shanxi, General Secretary proposed to firmly establish the concept that green mountains and clear waters are as valuable as gold and silver, and to promote the 'Right Jade Spirit'.
At this symposium, General Secretary Xi Jinping again mentioned the spiritual strength: "Desertification and land desertification have achieved a'double reduction', wind and sand hazards and soil erosion have been effectively suppressed, the system of laws and regulations for sand prevention and control has become increasingly sound, and green benefits have been achieved. Remarkable, it has created the" Three North Spirit "and established an international model of ecological governance."
Preventing and controlling desertification is both a material struggle and a spiritual confrontation. Generation after generation of sand control workers have worked hard and tirelessly, painting the green foundation of beautiful China.
On April 12, 2023, volunteers carried out voluntary tree planting and grass planting in the Baijitan National Nature Reserve in Lingwu, Ningxia.
In years of struggle against sandstorms, China has explored many practical methods for sand control, and the "wheat straw grid" sand fixation method is one of them - using materials such as wheat straw and rice straw to form squares in the desert to intercept water and reduce the speed of sandstorms.
Faced with an endless wheat straw grid, he tightly grasped the hand of "sand control hero" Wang Youde and said, "I am here to learn from you. You have made great contributions here, which is very remarkable."
As Wang Youde walked up to the sand dunes, Xi Jinping said to the sand control people who surrounded him, "This is an ordinary and great cause, and it has strengthened our determination to fight sand. We will fully support your cause."
The "Wheat Grass Grid" sand fixation method is known as the "Chinese Rubik's Cube" and is a microcosm of China's unique experience in sand control. In the magnificent practice of desertification control on the land of China, there are many such "Chinese remedies".
On September 6, 2017, the 13th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification was held in Ordos, Inner Mongolia. The Kubuqi Desert governance model, as a successful practice of China's desertification prevention and control, was included in the Ordos Declaration jointly drafted by representatives of more than 190 countries, becoming a global model for combating desertification.
On May 31, 2023, sand control workers were transporting water pipes in the Yili Ecological Management Area of the Kubuqi Desert, preparing to water trees.
To create a new miracle of China's desert prevention and control in the new era, General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward China's experience:
——Solidly promote the integrated protection and systematic management of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands, and sands.
——Scientific desertification control, comprehensively improving the quality and stability of desert ecosystems. The General Secretary requested that effective governance models be tailored to local conditions and scientifically promoted and applied.
——Widely engage in international exchanges and cooperation, fulfill the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and actively participate in global desertification environmental governance. The General Secretary stressed that it is necessary to focus on strengthening cooperation with neighboring countries, support the joint construction of desertification prevention and control in the "the Belt and Road" countries, lead countries to carry out policy dialogue and information sharing, and jointly respond to dust disasters.
Summer Starry Night Scenery of High Standard Farmland Shelter Forest in Chaci Village, Halmadun Town, Hejing County, Bazhou, Xinjiang
Preventing and controlling desertification is a long-term historical task. By drawing a blueprint to the end, working one after another, and persistently promoting key projects such as the "Three North", we can definitely build a strong ecological security barrier in northern China.
