Painting the Beautiful China "River Painting Scroll" Protection | Zhejiang | Painting Scroll

From the coast of the East China Sea to the banks of the Qiantang River, from the Hangzhou Jiahu Plain to the mountainous areas of southwestern Zhejiang, the land of the Zhijiang River is lush with greenery, displaying vitality.

China will establish August 15th as National Ecological Day. Guided by the concept of "green mountains and clear waters are as valuable as gold and silver", Zhejiang has been solidly promoting ecological construction for a long time, painting a beautiful "river painting scroll" of China.

Green has become the most moving color for development

In the northwest of Hangzhou, the 11.5 square kilometer Xixi Wetland is known as the "kidney of heaven" and plays an important role in conserving water sources and regulating climate.

For more than 10 years of continuous monitoring, there are 1040 species of vascular plants, 911 species of insects, and 203 species of birds in the Xixi Wetland, including national first-class protected animals such as the blue headed diving duck and the white tailed sea eagle. Biodiversity protection is constantly improving.

In the 1990s, the ecology here suffered severe damage due to the accelerated urbanization process. "After the launch of the comprehensive protection project in 2003, the Xixi Wetland began to undergo a transformation," said Zhang Qiaoling, head of the Wetland Protection Department of the Xixi National Wetland Park Management Bureau in Hangzhou.

The 2023 World Wetland Day China home promotion event was held on February 2 at Xixi National Wetland Park in Hangzhou. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Han

In July 2003, the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee proposed the implementation of the "88 Strategy", which mentioned further leveraging Zhejiang's ecological advantages, creating an ecological province, and creating a "green Zhejiang".

Guided by the concept of "green mountains and clear waters are as valuable as gold and silver", Zhejiang's ecological construction has been a long-standing achievement, and green has become the most moving color of development.

——The proportion of excellent water quality in provincial control sections has reached 97.6%, and the rate of excellent water quality in nearshore waters continues to reach the highest historical level; The air quality meets the national key area standards, and the provincial forest coverage rate reaches 61.15%.

——Becoming a pilot province for digital reform of "zero waste cities"; The public satisfaction with the ecological environment has been increasing for 11 consecutive years, while the total number of environmental petitions has been decreasing year by year.

——The per capita and per unit area economic ecosystem GDP, comprehensive green development score, and urban-rural balanced development level all rank among the top in the country.

The mountains are greener, the water is greener, the sky is bluer, and the ground is cleaner. In 2019, Zhejiang Province passed the national ecological province acceptance, gradually exploring a green and high-quality development path of economic transformation and upgrading, efficient resource utilization, continuous environmental improvement, and urban-rural balance and harmony.

Yucun Village in Anji County, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, is striving towards "high energy, modernization, and international standards", from the roaring sound of cannons and dust to the picturesque mountains and rivers, and the continuous bamboo sea, where "ecological rice" is becoming more and more fragrant.

"From relying on mountains for food to relying on mountains for prosperity, green mountains and clear waters are our source of happiness." Wang Yucheng, Secretary of the Party Branch of Yucun Village, introduced that last year, the village launched the "Global Partner" plan to introduce talents and capital, and linked with 17 surrounding administrative villages to build the "Yucun Scenic Area", comprehensively promoting rural revitalization.

Ensuring the Construction of Provincial Ecological Environment through Institutions

On the Kehai Road in Keqiao District, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, there is a constant flow of trucks loaded with fabrics: from south to north, white gray fabrics are transported into the "Blue Printing Fashion Town", while colorful textile fabrics are scattered downstream of the industrial chain.

The highly concentrated and green development of the Keqiao printing and dyeing industry provides support for the textile industry in the Yangtze River Delta region and even the whole country. This traditional industry, which has had a certain impact on the environment, has taken on a new look.

Qian Shuijiang, General Manager of Shaoxing Buting Textile Co., Ltd., recalled that in the past, when I came out of the printing and dyeing workshop, my shoes were so dirty that I couldn't wear them. Now, I can wear white shoes in and out of the printing and dyeing workshop.

At Tongle section of Puyang River in Pujiang County, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, workers took a boat to salvage floating debris on the water surface. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Yu

Taking the "88 Strategy" as the overall outline, Zhejiang integrates ecological environment protection and ecological civilization construction into all aspects of economic and social development, gradually forming an ecological protection system.

Since 2003, from building a "green Zhejiang" and launching the "ten million project", to deploying and accelerating the construction of an ecological Zhejiang and implementing the "five water co governance", and then to building a beautiful Zhejiang and a "demonstration province of ecological civilization", the successive Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and Government have drawn a blueprint to strengthen ecological construction.

In 2005, a province wide ecological compensation system was introduced, and currently, 54 cities and counties in the province have signed cross basin horizontal ecological compensation agreements; Cancel GDP assessment for 2 cities and 26 mountainous counties with ecological functions as the main focus; Establish a five level river and lake chief system and a four level ecological environment reporting system, and issue provincial-level "GEP accounting standards"

Using digital reform to leverage the reconstruction of ecological environment governance strategies and system reshaping, constructing a digital reform system for ecological environment, and creating a series of scenario applications such as "online integration of ecological environment".

Lang Wenrong, Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the Department of Ecology and Environment of Zhejiang Province, stated that in the process of ecological civilization construction, Zhejiang has deeply promoted the modernization of the ecological environment governance system and governance capacity through technology empowerment, monitoring assistance, and legal guarantee, providing support for the protection of the provincial ecological environment and the construction of ecological civilization.

In April last year, at the signing site of the first wetland carbon sequestration transaction in Zhejiang Province, Liangshan Cooperative in Deqing County purchased 10000 tons of carbon sequestration from Xiazhu Lake Wetland at a price of 58.83 yuan per ton. Some enterprises that urgently needed carbon emission indicators became new buyers of these carbon sequestration amounts.

"Realizing these high-quality environments can also contribute to the ecological construction of wetlands," said the person in charge of Liangshan Cooperative in Deqing County. If carbon sequestration funds are used for wetland ecological restoration and other work, the estimated carbon sequestration of Xiazhu Lake Wetland can reach 34000 tons by 2025.

Ecological civilization has deeply penetrated people's hearts in development practice

On holidays, the parking lot at the entrance of Hou'an Village in Tiantai County, Taizhou City is filled with buses of all sizes, and tourists from all over linger between the green mountains and clean villages.

"To leave a good impression on tourists." When wandering around the village on weekdays, villager Chen Qigen is accustomed to carrying a small bag to pick up the garbage he sees.

Chen Wenyun, Secretary of the Party Branch of Hou'an Village, said that from mining to developing a beautiful economy, the practice of green transformation has made villagers aware of protecting the environment. In 2022, the collective economic income and per capita income of farmers in Hou'an Village reached 5.3 million yuan and 55000 yuan respectively.

Countryside turning into parks, villages turning into scenic spots, farmhouses turning into guest rooms, villagers turning into shareholders, and resources turning into assets, Zhejiang is opening up an ecological value transformation channel where "green mountains and clear waters are like mountains of gold and silver".

Overlooking Yucun Village, Anji County, Huzhou City. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang

As of the end of 2022, the coverage rate of rural household waste classification and treatment by administrative villages in Zhejiang has reached 100%.

The gradual shift of garbage classification from "government driven" to "villagers taking the initiative" indicates that the concept of ecological civilization has deeply rooted in people's hearts in Zhejiang.

Under the guidance of the "88 Strategy", Zhejiang Province has solidly promoted the construction of ecological civilization in the past 20 years, and people have seen beautiful China in "Zhejiang".

The Baiyun Keng Creek, which flows through Shanhou Lu Village in Jiangnan Street, Yongkang City, meanders and is surrounded by lush vegetation on both sides. The scene before us is hard to believe. It used to be rainy and muddy, and if it clears for a long time, the stream will be cut off.

Five aspects, including sewage, garbage, toilets, environment, and river channels, were synchronously treated. While maintaining the natural landscape of the watershed, Shanhou Lu Village built ecological embankments, dams, hydrophilic platforms, sewage treatment stations, and supporting pipelines, giving the village a completely new appearance.

"Now the stream is very clear and flows continuously throughout the year," said villager Zhang Guiping. After experiencing the changes in the stream environment, villagers have been more attentive to water use and protection.

Ecological prosperity leads to civilized prosperity, and ecological decline leads to civilized decline.

On the new journey of building a demonstration zone for common prosperity through high-quality development, Zhejiang, which follows the trend of green development, is working together to promote high-level ecological environment protection, high-quality economic development, and the improvement of people's quality of life. We will continue to build green mountains and rivers, and expand our wealth and wealth.