National Ecological Day | Yifang Forest: Continuation of Green Miracle on Saihanba | Saihanba | Ecology

Shijiazhuang, August 15th, Xinhua News Agency (Xinhua) - Question: Yifang Lin: Continuation of Green Miracle on Saihanba

Xinhua News Agency reporter Feng Weijian

The Saihanba in August is full of greenery. At the Saihanba Forest Farm, the Xitaiyu Forest, which has been widely used in the construction of the forest, stands tall and strong with small camphor pine trees spreading and growing along steep slopes. The once barren mountains and barren ridges are vibrant with a new green decoration.

Saihanba Machinery Forest Farm is located in the northernmost part of Hebei Province, on the southern edge of Hunshandake Sandy Land in the Inner Mongolian Plateau. This used to be a desert sandy land where yellow sand covered the sky and birds had no resting trees. Nowadays, rows of larch trees are strong and upright, and patches of spruce trees stretch into a sea. Millions of acres of artificial forest have created an endless green barrier, telling the story of the green miracle written by generations of forest managers.

Saihanba National Forest Park. Shen Jizhong

Tackling afforestation has become a new challenge for Saihanba's "second entrepreneurship".

"Starting the 'second entrepreneurship' in Saihanba is not just about planting more trees and planting good ones," said Yu Shitao, the director of Saihanba Machinery Forest Farm. "We have made the rocky sunny slopes with poor soil, exposed rocks, and rapid evaporation the focus of afforestation, planting 'green' in the crevices of stones, and challenging the hard bones."

"The Xitaiyu area is remote and difficult to transport seedlings. There is only less than 10 centimeters of grass humus layer on the surface, and various irregular stones are distributed below. The soil layer is thin, the soil is scarce, and it is difficult to store water, with a maximum slope of over 30 degrees." According to Zhao Liqun, the director of the Dahua branch, before 2019, this place was still a barren mountain, just like a small scar in the million acre forest sea of Saihanba, lacking vitality and vitality.

Since its establishment in 1962, generations of Saihanba people have adhered to green development, creating a human miracle of turning wasteland into forest and sea, and forging the Saihanba spirit of "remembering mission, hard work, and green development".

It is difficult to carry out steep slope planting construction, maintain soil moisture with little soil, and survive in poor conditions... Carrying out afforestation means that one technical problem after another and natural challenges must be overcome. Standing at a new starting point, the new generation of Saihanba people are not afraid of difficulties and face them head-on, dedicating themselves to researching afforestation techniques and conducting various research and development experiments.

If the car can't get up, use mules and horses to transport the saplings up the mountain; Where even mules and horses cannot get up, they rely on people to carry them on their backs and shoulders; The disorderly rocky slope lacks soil, so we need to take soil from elsewhere and backfill... These "stupid methods" have helped the people of Saihanba successfully transform one stone sunny slope after another, gnawing down "hard bones".

After more than 10 years of exploration, Saihanba has summarized a complete set of afforestation technical specifications, including soil backfilling, film covering for water retention, seedling moisture retention, and cold overwintering prevention, providing valuable experience for artificial forest breeding in other regions of China.

Morning view of Saihanba National Forest Park. Shen Jizhong

Yu Shitao stated that since 2012, Saihanba has completed a total of 106000 acres of afforestation. At present, all the rocky barren mountains in the forest farm have been greened, and the forest area of the forest farm has increased to 1.151 million acres.

The sunlight penetrates through the dense forest and sprinkles onto the verdant earth. In early autumn, standing in the forest, there are bursts of bird songs in my ears, and the blue waves of the Seven Star Lake in the distance ripple. The flower sea by the lake is breathtaking.

In addition to trees, the main protected areas of the Saihanba National Nature Reserve also include natural ecosystems and their natural vegetation communities in the forest, grassland, and wetland ecotone. The favorable ecological environment and abundant species resources make Saihanba a natural gene bank for animal and plant species.

According to biodiversity survey statistics, there are 261 species of terrestrial wild vertebrates, 32 species of fish, 660 species of insects, 179 species of large fungi, and 625 species of plants in Saihanba.

"In recent years, there have been more and more species of animals in the forest, such as roe deer, grey cranes, swans, and wild boars. The images of animals captured by infrared cameras have also become more diverse," said Li Yongdong, deputy director of Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm.

"At present, the forest farm is appropriately reducing the open area of scenic spots." Li Yongdong said that the Saihanba Forest Farm has designated 18900 acres for centralized learning, inspection, and ecological tourism, accounting for about 1.35% of the total forest farm area. The remaining areas are closed for management throughout the year, and tourists are prohibited from entering to ensure the safety of ecological resources.

Tourists are playing in Saihanba National Forest Park. Shen Jizhong

According to the evaluation of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, Saihanba can provide 284 million cubic meters of fresh water annually for water conservation and purification in the lower reaches of the Luan River and Liao River; Prevent 5.1355 million tons of soil loss annually; Each year, it can fix 860300 tons of carbon dioxide and release 598400 tons of oxygen.

Nowadays, the forest ecosystem of Saihanba provides over 10 billion yuan in ecological service value every year. Under the relay of generations of Saihanba people, this forest continues to write the green miracle.