Herdsmen by the lakeside of Qinghai: "A good environment can lead to a good life"

(New Year's News) Herdsmen by Qinghai Lake: "A good environment can lead to a good life"

　　China News Agency, Xining, January 29th, title: Herdsmen by the lakeside of Qinghai: "A good environment can lead to a good life"

　　Author Li Jun Zhou Maoji

　　The 28th is the seventh day of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Located in Quanji Township, Gangcha County, Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, which is located on the northern shore of Qinghai Lake, the largest inland saltwater lake in China, shops are opening one after another. People are driving cars or riding motorcycles. Visit relatives and friends, come and go.

　　Early in the morning, the herdsman Laqing also planned to take his daughter to the street to buy some things and visit relatives' homes for New Year's greetings.

　　La Qing picked up the red cloth bag and said, "I am illiterate, so I took my daughter to (the supermarket) to buy things. She often told me not to use plastic bags, saying it was bad for the environment."

　　More than ten years ago, cattle and sheep often died in the herdsmen's homes near roadsides and rivers on the Gangcha grassland.

The local official investigation found that the deaths of cattle and sheep were caused by eating plastic bags by mistake.

So in October 2019, Gangcha County officials issued a "Plastic Ban Order", requiring the production, sale, and use of disposable non-degradable plastic products to be banned throughout the county.

Since then, packing things in cloth bags and paper bags has become a common habit of ordinary people and businesses.

　　"Zhaxi Dele, Luo Saisang! (Tibetan, meaning auspicious, happy new year.)" On the other side, Zhang Xinglong, a herdsman in Ningxia Village, Quanji Township, welcomed relatives who wished New Year.

Under the window grilles of "Happiness in the Year of the Rabbit", relatives boasted that Zhang Xinglong's "family ranch" has prosperous livestock and the newly purchased furniture is practical and beautiful.

　　"In the past, there were a lot of cattle and sheep, and they ate casually on the grassland. In February and March, there was no grass on the pasture road, and there was a lot of wind and sand." Zhang Xinglong said that since 2008, the local government has required the implementation of grassland grazing prohibition, and everyone has developed ecological animal husbandry. He also joined the cooperative in the village.

"Last year, I started my own family ranch again. Now the pasture is good, the cattle and sheep are strong, and the market price is not bad."

　　More than ten years ago, due to climate warming and human activities, Qinghai Lake experienced ecological and environmental problems such as lake shrinkage, grassland degradation, land desertification and biodiversity loss.

In 2008, Qinghai Province launched the Qinghai Lake Basin Ecological Environmental Protection and Comprehensive Management Project.

Since then, the intensive management of grassland and livestock and the balance of grassland and livestock began to rise in grassland pastures.

The picture shows that Qinghai Lake has been gradually frozen from the shore to the center of the lake.

Photo by Shi Guocheng

　　Statistics show that in 2022, there will be 11 professional farmer cooperatives, 6 joint-stock economic cooperatives, and 12 family ranches in Quanji Township, Gangcha County.

There are 95,000 cattle and sheep (only) sold in the township, with a total value of 140 million yuan.

　　"Now New Year's greetings in the village are different from the past. Although they still follow the custom of starting after midnight on New Year's Eve, they will no longer just drink and play cards as before. More often, the old people gather together to talk about their health. , and share their own health-preserving experience with each other, and the men chat about industrial development and New Year plans." Geng Xing Cairang, Secretary of the Party Branch of Ningxia Village, said.

　　Regardless of the severe cold or heat or the holidays, on the quiet streets in the early morning of Quanji Township and on the road around the lake, there will always be village cadres, grass wardens, or forest wardens, and local people with brooms, small shovels, clips and other tools to pick up Rubbish.

Up to now, the local people have been picking up garbage for 14 years.

　　"The living conditions are better, and more garbage is produced. From time to time, some bottles and cans will appear around Qinghai Lake, so I will take this responsibility and try my best to protect Qinghai Lake. Only when the ecological environment is better, can we Life is good." Xie Jiacairang, the caretaker, said.

　　In recent years, Qinghai Province has successively implemented 16 key ecological projects such as grassland management, natural forest protection, sand prevention and control, wetland protection and restoration, and comprehensively promoted the integrated ecological protection and systematic governance of the Qinghai Lake Basin.

Over the past ten years, the water storage capacity of Qinghai Lake has continued to increase, the water quality of the basin has remained stable, the comprehensive vegetation coverage of the grassland has gradually increased, and more than 80% of the area of ​​the basin has maintained the authenticity of the ecosystem.

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