The Green Transformation of Qinghai, a Major Ecological Province in China | Land | Qinghai
In the poetry of literati, Qinghai was once synonymous with desolation and sandstorms. However, today's ecological province of China, Qinghai, has already undergone a new transformation. Green and ecological have become the new labels of Qinghai. Names such as "China Water Tower", "Source of Three Rivers", and "China Wet Island" are becoming more and more prominent, and the business card of national park demonstration provinces is also becoming more and more dazzling
From "sand in people retreating" to "green in sand retreating"
This is the Ketu sand area on the north bank of Qinghai Lake, "Ketu" means cold place in Mongolian. In the 1960s and 1970s, this area was filled with yellow sand. After four generations of sand control workers and 40 years of unremitting efforts, the yellow sand has become an oasis. The lush greenery in front of him made Shi Derong, a forestry station engineer, very proud. Ketusha District is located in Haiyan County, Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, accounting for 57.6% of the total area of desertification in Qinghai Lake. The entire region is an important ecological security barrier for maintaining the ecological water system security of the northeast of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau and the Hexi Corridor, and controlling the eastward spread of desertification in the western region. It has been included in the national comprehensive demonstration zone for sand prevention and control and the national desertification land sealing and protection zone.
Under the ecological responsibility, the Party Committee and Government of Haiyan County, located on the north bank of Qinghai Lake, have always regarded sand prevention and control as the top priority. Since 1980, they have implemented year-round grazing bans, enclosure, and engineering management on the 4000 hectares of sandy areas in the county. They have adopted the method of "sealing first and combining sealing and construction", gradually adjusting the tree species structure and sand fixation methods. The total area of desertified land in the county has been reduced from 99000 hectares to 66200 hectares.
As of now, Qinghai Province has completed a total of 748600 hectares of desertification prevention and control tasks, of which 574000 hectares were completed during the 13th Five Year Plan period and 174600 hectares were completed from 2021 to 2022. Twelve national desertification land closure and protection zones have been fully established, with a total closure and protection area of 582600 hectares. The average annual reduction of desertification land is 21200 hectares, and the desertification degree index has decreased from 3.17 to 2.94. Key sand areas have achieved a fundamental transformation from "sand entering and people retreating" to "green entering and sand retreating". The mechanism for desertification prevention and control is constantly improving, and the vegetation in sand areas is effectively protected. The ecological system in sand areas is systematically managed, and ecological engineering drives industries to enrich the people. The effectiveness of desertification control has won recognition from all walks of life. The ecological environment in the desert area has significantly improved, the development space has steadily expanded, and the green barrier has become more solid.
The "Green Miracle" in Cold and Drought Regions
Duan Guolu, the creator of the "Green Miracle" in cold and arid regions, is a forest ranger in the Dashigou Greening Area of Qinghai Province's financial system. He was born in 1973 in Weixin Township, Huangzhong County, Xining City. 30 years ago, Duan Guolu was still a young boy. After graduating from junior high school, he worked as a shepherd for a few years. Later, he joined the team of greening work in the North and South Mountains with the "Governor's Grandpa" Gabulong. That year, he was 18 years old. "At that time, there was really no grass growing in Beishan, and the wind and sand were particularly strong. At night, we all had to hold onto the four corners of our tents. If we didn't pay attention, the tents would be overturned, and we couldn't hold on. We ran home several times, but eventually returned to the mountains." At that time, Duan Guolu never expected that there would be even more difficult places in Xining City than his hometown in Huangzhong.
According to investigation, the main rock mass of Beishan is red mudstone and sandstone, accompanied by a large amount of "sheep brain stones". The most basic landform characteristics of Beishan are steep terrain, dense rocks, and poor soil. The soil type is chestnut soil, with a loose structure and poor water retention. Someone once asserted that planting trees and afforestation in this place is simply impossible.
In order to change the ecological environment of the north and south mountains, in 1989, the Qinghai Provincial Party Committee and Government launched the Xining North and South Mountain Greening Project based on scientific demonstration, and established the Xining North and South Mountain Greening Command. In 1993, Gabulong, who had retired from the position of Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Qinghai Provincial People's Congress, carried his backpack and headed into a barren mountain ditch to serve as the full-time Deputy Commander in Chief of the Xining North South Mountain Greening Project. Gabulong led the workers to build roads while diverting water. In order to improve the soil quality, they carried the loess onto the mountain with baskets and chiseled "sheep's brain stones" with pointed picks. They suffered a lot for this green area.
Now, after the forest grows up, a microclimate has formed on the mountain. With more precipitation and less sandstorms, the survival rate of trees naturally increases, forming a virtuous cycle. In order to protect this green area, Duan Guolu and his wife devoted all their best youth in life to the mountains. The current Beishan is no longer the same as before. A hardened road leads directly to the mountaintop, and water diversion pipelines crisscross into a network. Tall and upright trees are thriving under their careful care... After more than 30 years of hard work, the first, second, and third phases of the Beishan greening project have completed a total of 34400 hectares of barren mountain greening around Xining, planting more than 87.28 million trees such as Qinghai spruce, Qilian juniper, Chinese pine, poplar, Hebeiyang, apricot, peach, sand jujube, and wild clover. At the same time, they are mixed with shrubs such as tamarisk, caragana, sea buckthorn, and white thorn, creating a relatively stable mixed ecological function. Artificial forests. The forest coverage rate in the core area of the project has increased from 7.2% before construction to 79%. The two mountains in Xining, north and south, have undergone greening and transformed from being washed by children's mountains to being lush. The ecological value, ecological benefits, and social service functions have greatly improved. The ecological environment and urban landscape in Xining have greatly improved, achieving the initial goal of building urban mountain forests and improving the urban ecological environment, laying a solid foundation for the green development of Xining.
Building an Ecological Security Barrier in the Three North Regions
The "Three Norths" have built an ecological security barrier on both sides of the green surrounding Longyangxia Reservoir Area. Yellow patches of land are scattered on the land, which is the desertified land of Shazhuyu and Mugetan in Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture that has been affected by wind and sand for many years. Sha Zhu Yu and Mu Ge Tan face each other across the river. Through the efforts of countless people, the spread of the desert here has been brought under control, presenting a delightful scene of lush green trees.
In recent years, with the overall promotion of national key projects such as the "three north" shelter forest, natural forest protection, returning grazing land to grassland, and ecological protection and construction of the source of the three rivers in Qinghai Province, significant achievements have been made in desertification prevention and control. Data shows that in the past 10 years, desertification and desertified land in the province have continued to show a "double reduction" trend, with a cumulative completion of 891300 hectares of desertification prevention and control, and a treatable rate of 30% for desertified land. The latest monitoring data shows that the total area of forest land in the "Three North" Shelterbelt Project Area in Qinghai Province has reached 11.025 million hectares, and the forest coverage has increased to 6.3%, changing the climate conditions in some areas.
According to the "Three North Six Phase Project Plan of Qinghai Province", from 2021 to 2035, 31 counties in Xining, Haidong, Haibei, Hainan, Haixi and Huangnan will also complete the construction of the "Three North" shelter forest with a total area of 429900 square kilometers, accounting for 59.6% of the total land area of Qinghai Province.
Transforming green mountains and clear waters into "golden mountains and silver mountains"
"To become rich with multiple trees" is the simplest description of the relationship between land greening and increasing people's income and wealth in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
In recent years, Qinghai Province has focused on building the "four industrial areas" and ecological civilization highlands, with rapid economic and social development. The forest and grass industry has also achieved breakthrough development, making important contributions to the construction of ecological civilization, carbon reduction and sink increase, poverty alleviation and rural revitalization in Qinghai. At present, the planting area of goji berries in Qinghai Province is nearly 46600 hectares, of which the organic goji berry base area is 13300 hectares, with an annual comprehensive output value of 5 billion yuan, driving the prosperity and income increase of 200000 people. Due to the fact that the distribution area of Goji berries in Qinghai is mainly around 2500 meters above sea level, with sufficient sunlight, rich selenium in soil, low non-point source and air pollution, and high fruit yield and quality, it has also become an important goji berry planting area and organic goji berry production base in China. It is truly the hometown of organic goji berries and a vivid practice of ecological beauty, industrial development, and people's prosperity.
