The new round of afforestation and greening project of one million mu in Beijing has completed afforestation and greening of 1.008 million mu, and small animals have more habitat and migration channels——
"Let the rabbits in Tongzhou run all the way to Yanqing"
Recently, the reporter traveled northwestward along the North Sixth Ring Road in Beijing and entered the Jingli (Beijing-Chongli) Expressway.
Stretching along both sides of the expressway, is a piece of green woods, connecting the plains with the distant mountains.
The warm wind blew into the car window, with the fragrance of plants.
These trees are the results of the construction of the green passage of the Jingli Expressway, and they are also part of the new round of afforestation and greening projects of one million mu in Beijing.
According to Wang Xiaoping, the second-level inspector of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscaping, through this project, in the past five years, Beijing has combined large-scale forest construction with "green" in the gaps to build a green ecological network and enhance biodiversity. Sex, small animals also have more habitat and migration channels.
"We have to do it so that the rabbits in Tongzhou can go all the way to Yanqing!" Wang Xiaoping said.
Small animals have more habitat and migration channels
Planting trees has enriched the biodiversity in the city.
Fully considering the survival needs of wild animals is a major feature of Beijing's new round of afforestation and greening projects of one million mu.
There are more trees, the original "ecological island" is connected, gradually strung together into "green corridors" and woven into "green nets", allowing small animals to have more habitats and migration channels.
From Tongzhou in the east, to Changping and Yanqing in the north, to Shijingshan in the west and Daxing in the south, there is ample space for wild animals.
In the past two years, Jiao Shi, a villager in Xinjian Village, Liucun Town, Changping District, often saw various birds, hedgehogs, squirrels and rabbits in the woods beside the Jingli Expressway.
"There are also pheasants and roe deer that ran down from the mountains behind. Some animals that have not been seen for many years have been seen again."
Why are the animals willing to come?
"The tree species we plant have been carefully selected and laid out." Sun Huabin, chief of the Ecological Construction Section of the Landscaping Bureau of Changping District, Beijing, pointed to the trees with different heights and colors on both sides of the Jingli Expressway and introduced them to reporters one by one. On one side are white bark pine and ingot maple, and on the other side are Chinese locust trees and luan trees.
"We also specially planted a lot of food source tree species, such as begonia, mountain peach, red leaf plum, etc., specially for the convenience of birds, insects and various wild animals. , autumn and winter are brilliant, and on the other hand, it also attracts more animals to settle down.”
There is a large mixed forest planted near Wangshan Pavilion in the East Garden of Wenyu River Park Demonstration Area.
This is a buffer zone specially set up to facilitate wildlife activities.
There is no man-made landscape here, and the interference of tourists is minimized as much as possible. It is like a natural barrier that separates the human activity area from the natural reserve area, providing a quiet habitat for wild animals.
Careful people walk to the conservation area near the West Garden Pier in Wenyu River Park, and they will find some dead branches and weeds that seem to be piled up at random.
In fact, these are artificial bushes, which are equivalent to "housing houses" for wild animals, which can provide shelter for small animals such as hedgehogs and hares.
A total of 2,200 man-made bushes like this have been built in Beijing's new round of afforestation and greening projects of one million mu.
In addition, there are 295 biodiversity conservation areas, 491 small and micro wetlands, 5,027 artificial bird nests, 1,338 insect hotels, and more than 1.2 million food source honey plants.
As Wang Jinzeng, director of the Ecological Protection and Restoration Department of Beijing Landscaping Bureau, said: "At present, Beijing's greening construction not only considers landscape and greening benefits, but also pays more attention to improving biodiversity and focusing more on realizing a virtuous circle of ecosystems."
In the past five years, Beijing has added 3,966 hectares of urban green space, equivalent to the area of six Olympic Forest Parks.
56 new urban forests, 181 leisure parks, and more than 460 pocket parks and small and micro green spaces have been built.
There are 40 green spaces above 10,000 mu in plain areas, 290 green spaces above 1,000 mu, and 464,000 mu of ecological restoration in shallow mountains.
The city's forest coverage rate has increased to 44.6%.
The "Beijing Terrestrial Wildlife Catalog (2021)" shows that Beijing has 596 species of terrestrial wild animals and more than 500 species of wild birds, more than one-third of the number of bird species in the country.
Today's Beijing has become one of the most biodiverse metropolises in the world.
"More green space in our old neighborhood!"
Planting trees has really improved Beijing's natural environment.
The northwest of Beijing is mountainous, and villages and towns located in the mountainous plains are vulnerable to wind and sand.
At the beginning of the founding of New China, the forest coverage rate in Beijing was only 1.3%.
At that time, Changping Nankou was one of the five major sand hazard areas.
Liucun Town, Changping District, which the Jingli Expressway passes through, is located in this area.
"We used to have strong winds here every year. When the wind blows, there will be a thick layer of soil on the road." Jiao Shi remembers that a few years ago, the side of the highway was full of sand and gravel, and there were many private constructions. The small factory building and the coal yard working day and night.
"Wherever the cinder dust falls, it will be completely dark. The clothes washed at home are not taken to the yard to dry. Under the road, there are garbage bags thrown everywhere, and the environment is very dirty."
Also suffering from environmental problems is Shaziying Village, Sunhe Township, Chaoyang District, Beijing.
Due to its proximity to Wenyu River and Qinghe River, many villagers here used to mine sand for a living.
There are sand and gravel factories, waste recycling stations and waste oil recycling points all over the village. Sand washing machines and stone crushers roar all day long, and stone powder is floating in the air.
To solve such problems completely, it is necessary to increase the "green" in a large area, and let the forest enter the city.
From 2012 to 2017, Beijing passed the first round of afforestation projects of one million mu in the plain area, and the forest coverage rate in the plain area increased from 14.85% to 26.8%, ending the ecological situation of "there are cities without forests".
In 2018, Beijing continued to launch a new round of afforestation and greening projects of one million mu. By the end of June this year, the afforestation and greening area of 1.008 million mu had been completed, and it will be successfully concluded by the end of the year.
The two rounds of afforestation are similar and different.
Wang Xiaoping said: "In the first round of afforestation of one million mu, the main purpose was to ram the foundation and increase the amount of greenery. More forests were created, the soil conditions were better, and it was easier to survive. In the new round of afforestation and greening projects of one million mu, the implementation of The new version of the urban master plan needs to be accurately mapped and implemented in a precise manner according to the planning space, and the green space often needs to be 'picked' a little bit.
The greening transformation along the Jingli Expressway and Shaziying Village was completed in the process of first vacating and then planting trees.
"Evacuation is more work than planting trees." Sun Huabin told reporters that in recent years, Changping District has gradually cleared a large number of coal yards and used the plots for greening.
However, because coal is piled up all year round, the land of the coal yard is not suitable for direct planting of trees.
"In order to carry out ecological restoration, we must first level the land, clean up all the cinder residues, and then backfill good soil with a thickness of more than one meter from other places, and at the same time increase organic matter to make the soil from barren to fertile."
By the spring of 2019, in the area along the Changping section of the Jingli Expressway, a total of 1,136 mu of vacated land had been demolished and 2,466 mu of land had been transferred for tree planting.
Then, from mid-March to the end of April of that year, 270,000 trees and shrubs were planted within 100 meters on each side of the plain area beside the highway and within the visible area of the first layer of the mountain ridge line. .
Today, from the air, this green passage with a total length of 30.2 kilometers is already a green ocean.
The artificial afforestation is seamlessly connected with the natural forest in the mountains, wild flowers bloom on the grass, and birds travel between the branches.
People passing by may think that this is a large country park with beautiful scenery.
The scenery on the road is beautiful, and the environment of the surrounding villages and towns has also improved.
Jiao Shi proudly told the reporter: "Since the tree was planted, the black mud water that used to flow on a hill near our village has turned into clear mountain spring water. Now every spring, many tourists come here to play in the water by car. Woolen cloth!"
Looking at the Wenyu River, starting from 2017, more than 30 sand and gravel factories in Shaziying Village have been shut down, and the village has been gradually demolished.
The Wenyu River Park built in situ has a total planned area of 30 square kilometers, becoming a "green lung" in the city.
"The original location of my house has been built into a park trail." Sun Minghua, who lived in Shaziying Village for fifteen or sixteen years, moved into a new house not far from the village with his neighbors a few years ago.
In the fall of 2020, after the Wenyu River Park demonstration area of about 2 square kilometers was first completed and opened, Sun Minghua likes to invite old friends and go for a walk here.
The old locust trees that were planted in the village were preserved and intertwined with the newly planted trees.
The pits previously caused by sand mining have been transformed into a landscape lake with rippling blue waves, and contiguous reeds have grown on the shore.
The construction waste and gravel rubble left by the villagers during the demolition were also fully reused and turned into permeable bricks for paving the park roads.
"There are trees, flowers, and water, look how beautiful this big park is!" Sun Minghua was even more happy when he learned that other areas planned for the first phase of Wenyu River Park will be opened in September this year, and the second phase of the project will start construction at the end of the year. "In the future, the green space in our old neighborhood will be bigger!"
"Green post employment has made my family's life happier!"
Planting trees and afforestation is a vivid practice of the green concept of benefiting the people.
The green passage next to the Jingli Expressway has been completed, and the trees will need to be maintained regularly in the future.
This has brought opportunities for "green post employment" to the residents of surrounding villages and towns.
In March last year, Jiao Shi went from a farmer to a tree maintenance worker.
"My family contracted a few acres of land and planted some strawberries, peaches and other fruits. This is the main source of income. Last year, the village recommended the job of green post employment. I felt that the salary and benefits were good, so I applied for the job."
With a salary of about 4,000 yuan a month and more flexible working hours, Jiao Shi is very satisfied with this new job.
"The most important thing is that the range of trees that I am usually responsible for maintaining is the area near my home, which is about seventy or eighty acres. It is very convenient to go to work every morning. I can go home for dinner at noon, and I have something to do in my own land. At any time, you can take time off and go back to take care of you.”
In summer, the temperature is high and there is a lot of rain. For more than a month before, Jiao Shi's main responsibility was to fight weeds to prevent weeds from grabbing nutrients.
In other seasons, the maintenance of trees also includes daily patrol, irrigation, insect control, branch trimming, replanting, etc.
Each job has a dedicated technician to do regular training and guidance.
Jiao Shi told reporters with a smile: "I can work at the door of my house, my income has also increased, and I have also learned a lot of technical knowledge about tree maintenance. The green post employment has made my family happier!"
Like Jiaoshi, there are many local farmers who benefit from the employment of green posts.
The data shows that the new round of afforestation and greening projects of one million mu in Beijing has increased residents’ income through employment of green posts. A total of 75,900 people have been employed in key forestry construction management and protection projects such as afforestation and greening and plain ecological forest maintenance, of which 6.57 are local farmers. million people.
For more ordinary citizens, the green benefits brought by planting trees are mainly reflected in the daily life of "opening the window, you can see green, and walking out the door, there is a sports field", and people are closer to nature.
Wenyu River Park often holds various activities, integrating cultural, leisure and sports activities into nature.
This summer, the park has launched trendy sports such as paddle board yoga and land surfing, attracting many young people who are keen on outdoor activities.
"The five major themes of camping, education, sports, tide play and music have made the park the largest outdoor cultural tourism pioneer in Beijing." said Luan Ming, deputy manager of Wenyuhe Park Construction Management Co., Ltd. Since the park opened, the Wenyuhe Park Demonstration Area has For two consecutive years, it has been listed on the list of natural scenic spots in Beijing's Internet celebrity check-in places, and has also become the "Chaoyang District Primary and Middle School Students' Social Practice Large Classroom Practice Base". There are more than 150 cultural and sports activities such as the Bada Warriors Competition.
"The landscaping in the capital further integrates forests, green spaces, wetlands and other green spaces with residents' production and living spaces." Wang Xiaoping introduced that combined with the parks built with millions of acres of afforestation, the needs of citizens for rest, fitness and education were fully considered, and fitness trails, The construction of forest trails, etc., and supporting services such as mass fitness and popular science exhibitions have enhanced the people's sense of green gain.
Last year, more than 400 million Beijing citizens came to the park to enjoy a green living environment.
When the breeze blows through the forest, people have seen that the beautiful Beijing has handed in an "ecological answer sheet" with excellent results.
Taking the achievements of the new round of afforestation and greening projects of one million mu as a new starting point, the prospect of building Beijing into a world-class harmonious and livable city is exciting.
Reporter Li Zhen