Young man "planting" coral on the seafloor
Our reporters Huang Zhen, Liu Jinhai, Yang Guanyu
Sanya, Hainan, West Island waters.
The waves hit the shore, and the coconut groves swirled.
Wu Chuanliang, wearing a diving suit and holding tools, stepped on the fine rocks and sand on the seaside of the West Island. With the help of his diving buddies, he walked into the deep sea step by step. After reaching the target point, they dived together.
At this time, the water was silent, Wu Liangchuan could only hear his own breathing.
No time to take care of the wonderful underwater world, he held a coral seedling the size of an index finger and carefully fixed it on the reef.
Plant a "tree" today, and it will grow into a "coral sea" in the future.
"Soil Rice Bowl"
Wu Chuanliang is the head of the Sanya Institute of Coral Reef Ecology.
At 32 years old this year, he is a real "post-90s".
However, the long-term work at sea has made Wu Chuanliang rough skin and no longer looks young.
"Extraordinarily old," the "post-90s" laughed at himself.
Wu Liangchuan grew up in Haikou. Children who grew up by the sea are no strangers to the ocean and marine life, but the deep "binding" with coral reefs started by accident.
After graduating from university in 2014, Wu Chuanliang came to Sanya to look for development opportunities. Many recruiters learned that he studied aquaculture in college and suggested that he should return to his main business and not waste the knowledge he had learned.
This caused Wu Chuanliang to "hit walls everywhere and couldn't find a suitable job".
When he was troubled, he called his mother, "Mom said, come back if you can't find a job, and mother will support you." The words of his mother back then are still warm when I think of it.
Just when he was hesitating whether to leave Sanya, a friend contacted him and said that he had the opportunity to work in the Sanya Coral Reef National Nature Reserve in Hainan.
After a test, Wu Chuanliang successfully passed the test and officially joined the reserve, and began his indissoluble bond with the coral reef.
Wu Chuanliang's understanding of coral reefs has deepened due to his understanding of coral reefs when he was studying, and more and more relevant knowledge he came into contact with after working in the reserve.
In coral reef research, Sanya has a natural geographical advantage.
"Sanya is a particularly good area for coral research in Hainan Province," said Wu Chuanliang. Since he also likes scientific research work, he established the protection and research of coral reefs as his lifelong pursuit soon after he joined the reserve.
During his work, Wu Chuanliang found that Hainan's local coral reef-related scientific research capabilities are relatively weak, especially the employment positions and scientific research funds of young scientific research workers are relatively small. The most important thing is that many young scientific research workers lack a platform to display their wisdom.
"I thought at the time, why not start an institution or create a platform so that more young scientific researchers can settle down and do research," said Wu Chuanliang. More support from those who want to, to achieve talent agglomeration, and build a scientific research highland for coral reef research in Sanya.
Just do it.
In 2017, Wu Chuanliang initiated the establishment of the Sanya Coral Reef Ecology Institute, mainly engaged in coral breeding, transplantation, ecological restoration, monitoring and investigation of the ecological environment.
He began to support the development of scientific research and conservation of coral reefs in another capacity.
However, the family was not supportive at first.
"My parents still want me to work in the reserve," Wu Chuanliang said.
"I'm worried about the pressure on the child." Talking about why he wanted Wu Chuanliang to stay in the reserve, his father Wu Shushang truthfully said that his education level is not high, and he thinks it's good for the child to work in the reserve.
Going out alone, the future is uncertain.
"My parents may be really afraid that one day I will become an unemployed youth," said Wu Chuanliang.
Abandoning the "iron rice bowl" and picking up the "earth rice bowl" is unacceptable to many people.
"But in the process of solving scientific research problems, I have gained happiness." Wu Chuanliang said, no matter whether his family can accept it or not, he still has to follow his inner thoughts, concentrate on scientific research, and seek the understanding of his family.
"A lot of our work is done in the sea. Every time we come back from the sea, in addition to being tanned, there is also a sea smell." In Wu Chuanliang's view, it is not easy to engage in this kind of research work.
However, in his work, Wu Chuanliang, in addition to harvesting happiness, can also realize his ideal of doing a good job in coral reef research, and has made breakthroughs in scientific research. He believes that this "earth rice bowl" is worth holding.
"Planting Trees"
Coral reefs, known as the "tropical rainforest" under the sea.
Coral reefs cover less than two-thousandths of the ocean floor, yet provide habitats for nearly 30 percent of marine species, making them one of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth.
The South China Sea has 2.57% of the world's coral reef resources, ranking eighth in the world.
In Wu Chuanliang's view, the coral reef ecosystem is an important ecosystem that maintains marine biodiversity. Once destroyed, it means that marine life has lost its "home".
In addition, fishery resources, tourism resources, etc. also depend on the coral reef ecosystem to maintain.
For decades, due to the degradation of the natural environment and human destruction, coral reefs have declined globally.
The natural restoration of coral reefs is long and difficult, and some even take hundreds of years. Artificial planting and restoration are imminent.
This process is somewhat similar to "planting trees" on land - first cultivate "saplings", grow into small trees in the nursery, and then transplant them to the place to be planted, Wu Chuanliang said.
"Afforestation", whether on land or in the ocean, is of great significance for regulating climate change and maintaining the balance and stability of various ecosystems, but ocean "forestry" is more difficult.
"The marine ecosystem is relatively complex, and the operation is quite difficult," said Wu Chuanliang. The surface of the sea appears to be calm, but in fact, the undercurrent is turbulent. In addition, the weather at sea is fickle, which brings many difficulties to the actual operation.
More importantly, different sea areas are affected by different factors, the degree of human disturbance is also different, and the health of the existing ecosystem is also different. This requires the research team to "analyze specific problems in detail when implementing coral reef ecological restoration." ”, and design the plan according to local conditions.
This also puts forward higher requirements for the work of the institute. It is necessary to repeatedly study and demonstrate on each coral reef ecological restoration project, and wait for the right weather to let the project "go to sea".
At the beginning of this year, the ecological restoration project implemented in the relevant waters of Sanya Yalong Bay was independently researched and applied for patents by the research institute based on the conditions of the sea area, and was not put into the sea until the end according to the actual situation.
In response to the fragmentation of the original sedimentary environment in the relevant waters of Yalong Bay, the research team found that the waves had a greater impact on the substrate, and a stable substrate could not be formed, and it was difficult for coral larvae to attach. The patent of artificial ecological reef increases the attachment base of corals and helps the ecological restoration of the sea area."
Combining multiple repair cases and the results obtained in practice and theory, the Institute will integrate domestic and foreign strengths such as the University of Connecticut, Hainan University and other domestic and foreign strengths in 2021 on the basis of certain accumulation, and focus on research and development in Hainan Province. Plan International Technology Funded by the cooperative R&D project, a scientific research project to screen and cultivate heat-resistant reef-building coral strains has been launched. The goal is to successfully cultivate a variety of heat-resistant corals and greatly increase their survival rate.
"This will vigorously promote the protection of the diversity of coral reef ecosystems and biological resources in the South China Sea," said Wu Chuanliang. If the research is successful, it can meet the growing demand for ecological restoration with quality and quantity.
"Youth Storm"
"We are a vigorous institution." When it comes to the composition of the institute's personnel, Wu Chuanliang immediately came to his senses. The scientific research team includes various professionals such as coral classification and identification, coral reef ecological restoration, marine engineering, etc. Most of the researchers are "Post-90s".
"In the beginning, there was only me in the scientific research team," Wu Chuanliang said with a wry smile when referring to the early days of the institute's establishment. It seems that there is no shortage of people, money, and technology.
All beginnings are hard.
Relying on their own drive and fighting spirit, after 5 years of development, the research team of the institute has grown to 14 people now.
Ke Shaowen, who is in charge of project quality and execution at the institute, officially joined in May 2019.
"At that time, the institute just ushered in an important stage of development," Ke Shaowen said. At that time, the institute's internal technical strength was weak and operating funds were short.
At the same time, it was the first time that the institute undertook a major ecological and environmental protection project in Hainan that was concerned by the Central Environmental Protection Inspectorate. Ke Shaowen still remembers that, under the leadership of Wu Chuanliang, the team members concentrated on tackling key problems. From the design and implementation of the technical scheme to the acceptance, the institute delivered a satisfactory answer sheet to the society.
In the past five years, this "storm of youth" has achieved good "victory results": "Promoting protection through research", realizing ecological restoration of an area of more than 50 hectares, obtaining nearly 10 patents, and establishing a joint training mechanism with many universities.
Every successful project is inseparable from the strength of the team and the support of all parties.
"The lights of the research institute are often lit very late," said Wu Chuanliang. The reason why he has been able to persist until now is inseparable from the support of the reserve and the colleagues who work together.
"During the development of the institute, the reserve has given strong support to both the use of sea areas and scientific research, and we have not looked down upon us because we are young," said Wu Chuanliang. In order to repay the reserve, we have also tried our best to , to give back some scientific research support.
Since the establishment of the institute, new blood has been added continuously. A large amount of research and development work and front-line work require team members to work without any regrets.
"Be a good leader, be a good leader, and let everyone live and work in peace and contentment" is Wu Chuanliang's commitment to team members.
In 2019, Wu Chuanliang began to relocate the research institute from downtown Sanya to Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City.
"When I first came here, this place was still a wasteland," Wu Chuanliang sighed, the current Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City is not what it used to be, with many high-rise buildings, "I really want to dedicate my youth and passion to this piece of land. on hot soil".
"It's not easy for an institution like them without stable financial support to develop into this," said Zhou Zhi, associate dean and professor of Hainan University's School of Oceanography, who cooperated with the institute in 2019. "Doing scientific research or technology research and development requires long-term development. People who burn money, have no feelings and no perseverance, can't do this kind of thing well, and I hope they can do better and better."
In June of this year, Wu Chuanliang will marry his girlfriend.
She is from Northeast China and also works in Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City.
But Wu Chuanliang spent less time with him because of work, and even selected wedding photos in the car "cloud".
His lover would also complain to him, "I can't make much money, I'm busy every day, and I can't stay at home." Wu Chuanliang could only find a way to comfort him. small gift.
It was another calm day, and Wu Chuanliang went to sea again.
After changing into a diving suit, carrying 40 to 50 jins of equipment on his back, he took his tools and plunged into the water, and soon disappeared into the blue.
There, the "saplings" that Wu Liangchuan diligently cared for gave birth to a colorful world, waiting to become a forest.