BEIJING, July 13 electric Alxa title: 20 years of western China Alxa changes in mind: from "wind stone run" to "picturesque"
China News reporter Li Aiping
"My hometown can't just be barren, it's already tree-lined and picturesque." Meng and Bayer said excitedly when they talked about the changes in their hometown of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Alxa League.
Alxa League was once the area with the most deserts and the most severe desertification in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It is known as the main channel and important source of sand and dust storms in Northwest China. Within the territory are the Tengger Desert, Badain Jaran Desert, Ulan Buh Desert.
The picture shows the picturesque beauty of Alxa. Photo by Xiao Han
"There are no birds in the sky, there is no grass on the ground, there are no people on the ground, and the wind runs on the stones." Meng and Bayer are local herdsmen. He used a common saying for his overall impression of his hometown 20 years ago.
In 2000, CCTV's "News Investigation" broadcast a special program "Shaqin Jina", which aroused great attention from the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. In the same year, the State Council of the People's Republic of China made a major decision to implement unified regulation of the Heihe water volume, in order to improve the local ecological environment.
The Heihe River is the second largest inland river in northwestern China. It originates in the middle part of the Qilian Mountains. The basin is adjacent to the Shiyang River Basin in the east, the Shule River Basin in the west, and Juyanhai in the Ejin Banner in Inner Mongolia to the north.
Two years later, on July 17, 2002, the tenth-year-old Dongju Yanhai in Ejin Banner, located in the westernmost part of Inner Mongolia, entered the water for the first time.
According to official sources, Alxa League used the hard-won Heihe water to rescue the downstream Ejina Banner. The groundwater level of the Juyanhai Delta has rebounded by an average of 40 cm. The East Juyanhai has not dried up for 15 consecutive years, and the water area has remained at 40 per year. Above a square kilometer, the long-lost Heihe Tail unique bighead fish reappeared.
Wang Xinmin, deputy director of the Alxa League Forest and Grass Bureau, said that at present, the area of Populus euphratica forests on both sides of Yanhai in Ejina Banner has increased from 360,000 mu to 450,000 mu. Ju Yanhai reproduces the blue waves of the past.
The picture shows the picturesque beauty of Alxa. Photo by Xiao Han
The change in Juyanhai is just a microcosm of the drastic changes in the Alxa League as a whole.
Wang Xinmin said that local officials have put ecological governance as a top priority, and the main measure is to "stop the hands of the three local deserts."
"We vigorously implemented key ecological projects such as the "Three North" shelterbelt, returning grazing land to grassland, and natural forest protection to break the conclusion that afforestation cannot be carried out in areas with a 200 mm drop of water, and continued to carry out afforestation with a total of 6.36 million mu. Wang Xinmin said that after years of hard work, great results have been achieved.
A reporter from ChinaNews.com learned that after decades of hard work, the Alxa League officials have completed a total of 19.35 million mu of forest plantation among the three deserts, especially the two total lengths of 460 in Tengger and Ulanbu and the desert. The large-scale sand-proof forest-grass protection belt with a length of 3 kilometers and a width of 3-20 kilometers forms the "green belt lock yellow dragon" trend, which guarantees the commercial grain bases such as the Hexi Corridor, the Ningxia Plain, and the Hetao Plain, as well as Northwest China, North China, Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Ecological security of the region.
"No specific statistics, but now there are fewer and fewer sandstorms and more and more trees." Meng and Baier said in surprise.
The changes in the ecological environment of Alxa year by year have also allowed the people here to live a "well-off life."
"We used to be surrounded by sand. When the wind blew, the sheepfolds and sheep were suppressed." Li Xiumei was a citizen of Bayanuo Rigong Su Muhao, Amu Banner, Alxa League. She said that in the past few years, the local afforestation has improved the environment, and also brought considerable green income to help them get rid of poverty and become rich.
The picture shows the picturesque beauty of Alxa. Photo by Xiao Han
According to local official information, people like Li Xiumei have a total of 60 households in Gacha. Every July is the seeding period of aerial seeding forest. She and her family increase their income by harvesting and selling seeds such as flower sticks and jujube, which can be at least 20,000 yuan (RMB).
The gradual changes in the local environment are also driving the local tourism industry.
"The number of tourist receptions and income has maintained rapid growth of more than double digits for more than 10 consecutive years." Bao Kaifeng, deputy director of the Alxa League Cultural Tourism Bureau, said that the local area is automobile off-road, Ejin Populus, Badain Jaran Desert, ornamental stone treasure jade, etc. Planning and implementing brand events and festivals for the theme has now become the brand of Alxa League.
"Some of the foreign guests who have been here raised their thumbs up and couldn't help but like it." Bao Kaifeng said. (Finish)