General Secretary Xi Jinping's concerns | write colorful ecological answers-listen to the story of harmonious symbiosis between man and nature on the occasion of World Environment Day | Protection | World Environment Day

"We must firmly establish and practice the concept that green water and green mountains is Jinshan and Silver Mountains, and plan for development at the height of harmonious symbiosis between man and nature." Since the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made a series of important expositions at the height of the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, which has provided fundamental compliance and action guidelines for the construction of ecological civilization in the new era.

Various regions are taking active actions and working together to promote carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion, and growth, writing a colorful answer sheet with bluer skies, greener mountains, and clearer water. On the occasion of World Environment Day, let's listen together to the story of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.

A Sunshine Journey of a Photovoltaic Panel

The scorching sun of June scorched the Kubuqi Desert. On the undulating sand dunes, hundreds of large machinery shuttle back and forth, cutting peaks, filling valleys, and leveling the land.

Zhang Ruijun looked up at the rows of shiny boards on the 4-meter-high bracket and said, "This guy is amazing. Just give him some sunlight and he'll 'call'."

Zhang Ruijun is the person in charge of the 2 million kilowatt photovoltaic project in Kubuqi, Mengxi Base. The "magical" panel he refers to is a photovoltaic panel, which can instantly convert sunlight into electricity and transmit it to thousands of enterprises through the power grid system. Even more miraculous is that under the protection of photovoltaic panels, sandy grasses such as willows and poplar wood can be planted in the shade, and livestock and poultry can also enjoy the shade below.

Due to the abundant lighting resources and the vast exploitable areas such as deserts, Gobi, and deserts, Inner Mongolia has undertaken a large number of large-scale wind and solar power base construction in recent years in the context of promoting carbon peak and carbon neutrality, and is striving to shift from a traditional energy region to a clean energy region.

"After the completion of the project by the end of this year, we will be able to provide 4 billion kilowatt hours of green electricity annually, which is equivalent to saving 1.25 million tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by more than 3.4 million tons. We can also achieve power generation and desertification control through the economic restoration of 100000 acres of desert under the board," Zhang Ruijun said, pointing to the construction site of the project.

The lives of ordinary people have also changed due to photovoltaic panels. In Lianxing Village, Bayannur City, photovoltaic panels can be seen everywhere on the roofs and courtyards of every household. Villager Yang Gaizhi said, "In the past, I relied on burning coal for winter, and my home was filled with black smoke. Since the installation of photovoltaic panels, not only can they generate electricity, but they can also provide centralized heating, which is convenient and hygienic."

In just a few years, photovoltaic panels have followed various construction projects and have almost spread throughout Inner Mongolia. They have also witnessed the energy changes in the western region and the transition from black to green in the entire process of energy production, power generation, and terminal application. In the future, they will also witness more stories of green transformation in carbon reduction and emission reduction.

As of the end of 2022, the installed capacity of renewable energy has reached 1.213 billion kilowatts, with an annual power generation of over 2700 billion kilowatt hours.

A healing journey in a mountainous area

The egret has returned! The villagers of Lianfeng Village rushed around to spread rumors.

Lianfeng Village in Zhoutian Town, Huichang County, Jiangxi Province is a small mountain village in the upper reaches of the Gan River. In 2005, after being discovered to contain shale resources, fate changed.

Shale is a good raw material for firing shale bricks. Two brick factories have been built here, including quarrying mountains, chopping trees to build houses, and burning bricks after destroying the land

Looking at the once lush slopes with only exposed rocks and bare mines, Liu Xingze, the Party branch secretary of Fengcun, sighed and said, "Alas, the land is also barren, and all the old cousins around have moved away. What should we do?"

After 13 years of such agony.

In 2018, these two brick factories were shut down due to non-compliance with the newly revised environmental standards. Although the mountains no longer suffer from the pain of being ripped open, they have become abandoned mines covered in sand and dust, covered in unsightly scars.

The transition began in 2021. Taking the construction of a pilot county for ecological restoration of land space in Jiangxi Province as an opportunity, Huichang County has begun to promote the ecological restoration and management of abandoned mines.

After the expert team's consultation, they helped determine the "treatment" plan - suitable for forest, suitable for grass, and suitable for cultivation: on rocky slopes that are no longer covered with soil, spraying is used to plant perennial herbaceous plants such as dogtail grass, lespedeza, and safflower grass; If there is still soil left on the slope, plant trees such as maple and fir to achieve slope stabilization and greening.

The mine pit is designed as a high standard farmland. After the land is leveled, it is first covered with a layer of soil with good viscosity as a water retaining layer, and then a more fertile cultivation layer is laid on top. In order to nourish the more than 80 acres of newly added paddy fields in the mountains, experts brought water from the nearby Leigongba Reservoir. Villager Wu Qingde said, "The rice production capacity here is now over 800 kilograms per acre per season."

"Thank you to the experts for their skillful rejuvenation. Now, this mountainous area is lush with plants and seedlings, and there are often egrets flying by, full of vitality," Liu Xingze said with a smile.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, a total of 1.02 billion mu of afforestation has been achieved nationwide. As of now, China's forest area is 231 million hectares, with a forest coverage rate of 24.02%; The grassland area is 265 million hectares, and the comprehensive vegetation coverage of the grassland reaches 50.32%.

An Immigrant Journey of a Crested Ibis

Recently, there is good news from the wild training base of the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve in Shandong: the Crested Ibis family at the mouth of the Yellow River is about to have a new baby.

"The Crested Ibis is a first-class protected animal and a national treasure. It is known as the 'Oriental Jewel' due to its beauty and rarity," said Wang Andong, a senior engineer at the protected area.

In order to promote the development of the Crested Ibis population, half a year ago, the Shandong Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve and the Shaanxi Hanzhong Crested Ibis National Nature Reserve agreed to carry out scientific research on wild release in the Yellow River Estuary Wetland, and 30 Crested Ibis migrated here.

In order to make the incoming crested ibis willing to stay, the staff made careful preparations. The protected area is covered with shrubs, reeds, and tamarisks, and the crested ibis can not only play happily but also sleep comfortably. The prepared "lunch" not only includes their favorite loaches and bread worms, but also specially added a small silver carp native to the Yellow River estuary, which is delicious and can help them adapt to the environment and taste here as soon as possible. As summer approached, the staff kindly pulled up a sunshade net to prevent the crested ibis from getting heatstroke.

"The wild release of Crested Ibis is just one part of our efforts to protect biodiversity. We still have a lot of work to do to strengthen the comprehensive management of the environment in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, improve the biodiversity of the river delta, and create a more complete warm temperate wetland ecosystem." Wang Andong said.

In recent years, the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve has implemented 17 wetland restoration projects, carrying out key species habitat protection, native plant conservation, and marine ecological restoration work. Since 2019, a total of 533 million cubic meters of water have been replenished, 188 square kilometers of wetlands have been repaired, and 62000 acres of salt marsh alkali marsh and seagrass beds have been restored.

Nowadays, the number of bird species in the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve has increased from 187 in 1992 to 371, including 25 and 65 species of first-class and second-class protected birds such as the Oriental White Stork and Black billed Gull.

The staff was pleasantly surprised to find that several pairs of newly immigrated Crested Ibis women have laid 7 eggs. Of course, such happy events often occur here. In 2022, the elegant Oriental white stork bred 152 nests and 470 young birds. When the beautiful red crowned crane winters, its population also exceeds 300. This year, it has been monitored that the red crowned crane has bred 8 nests in the wild.

"In order to allow birds to live and reproduce more freely, tourists can only look at them from afar." Wang Andong said, "But the figures of tourists strolling in the scenic area and the beautiful shadows of various birds flying one after another around, in my opinion, are a beautiful picture of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature."

90% of terrestrial ecosystem types and 74% of national key protected wild animal and plant populations have been effectively protected, and the number of over 300 rare and endangered wild animal and plant populations in the wild has been restored and increased.

Leading text poster production: Wang Jing, An Lumeng

Product: Huo Xiaoguang

Planned and produced domestically by Xinhua News Agency