From Tibetan antelopes to giraffes, this construction of China makes friends with the "Animal Kingdom"

　　Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, October 13 -

　　Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Shaohua Siyuan

　　On the shores of Zhuonai Lake in Hoh Xil, China, Tibetan antelopes gather here across the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, bringing life to the lonely wasteland; in Kenya’s two national parks, many wild animals represented by giraffes migrate through the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway and travel in the vast East Africa. The prairie presents the wonders of life.

　　From the Tibetan antelope to the giraffe, from the Qinghai-Tibet Railway to the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway, wild animals coexist and coexist with China's construction projects.

The Tibetan antelope crosses the bridge and the giraffe does not bow its head

　　From May to July each year, it is the season when the Tibetan antelopes of the "Highland Elves" migrate for lambing.

Feeling the "calling" of nature, female Tibetan antelopes from the Three Rivers of Qinghai, Altun Mountain in Xinjiang, and Qiangtang in Tibet, drove in groups to the Zhuonai Lake in Hoh Xil for a "covenant of life".

　　In 2006, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was officially opened to traffic.

This "great dragon" that runs straight through Hoh Xil did not create a geographical separation of the nature reserve, and the migration route of Tibetan antelopes year after year is still the same, which benefits from the construction of wildlife migration channels.

　　Elevated bridges replace roads with bridges.

The engineers of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway considered that the construction of the railway might block the migration of wild animals such as Tibetan antelopes, so they matched the actual situation of the local wild animals in terms of location, width and height, and built 33 wild animal passages.

　　Eight years later, the Mombasa Port in Kenya and the capital Nairobi, the main transportation route, suffered the same problem.

As the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway passes through Nairobi National Park and Tsavo National Park, and the latter is Kenya's largest wildlife sanctuary, the impact of the construction of the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway on wildlife and the environment once caused widespread concern among local environmentalists.

　　“During the design process of the Mombasa-Nairobi railway construction, we adopted a series of measures in response to environmental impacts, drawing on the design experience of the Dutch A50 highway, the German B38 highway, and the China Qinghai-Tibet railway." Zhang Jingqiao said.

　　On the basis of investigating the living habits and migration paths of wild animals, a total of 14 large-scale wild animal passages and 79 bridges have been set up across the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway.

The clear height of all bridge-type animal passages is above 6.5 meters, and giraffes can pass without bowing their heads.

In addition, the bridge approach of the cross-river bridge was appropriately extended at the big river to increase the height of the bridge to facilitate the passage of animals.

　　It can be said that the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway guarantees the free passage of all types of wild animals.

Kitili Mbasi, head of the Kenya Wildlife Conservation Agency, said that he had surveyed along the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway and did not see any signs of adverse effects on wildlife by the railway.

Escort of Green Railway

　　While safeguarding the migration path of wild animals, it is also essential to create a green road for wild animals.

　　This green road lays equal emphasis on plants and animals.

The survival and development of wild animals depend on the plants in their environment. Railway construction cannot avoid the problem of how to protect vegetation cover.

　　The Qinghai-Tibet Railway adopts the method of "the trees are suitable for trees, the plants are suitable for irrigation, and the grass is suitable for grass." A 700-kilometer "green corridor" is built along the railway.

The Mombasa-Nairobi Railway pays attention to protecting the mangroves in the Mombasa Mangrove Wetland Park, reducing logging as much as possible, and pre-burying multiple water pipe culverts to ensure the normal growth of mangroves.

　　This green road lies in protecting the environment.

Railway construction and operation will inevitably have a certain impact on the environment, and reducing pollution is the key.

　　The primitive ecological environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau occupies a special position in the world.

To this end, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway has adopted a fully enclosed 25T new passenger car body with an advanced sewage and sewage collection system.

"The toilets on the train and the sewage in the washroom are all feces-collecting devices and will not be directly discharged onto the line..." said Chang Gong Jiuquzhen, a train on the Xining Passenger Transport Section of China Railway Qinghai-Tibet Group Corporation.

　　As the infrastructure that passes through Kenya's two major national parks, the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway focuses on protecting the existing natural environment.

Li Changgui, general manager of the Kenya Office of China Road and Bridge, said that the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway rationally uses the existing transportation corridors to reduce the secondary division of the overall ecosystem of the nature reserve and reduce land waste; sound barriers are installed in the Nairobi National Park to reduce train passing time. noise.

Infrastructure and environmental protection go hand in hand

　　Regarding the Mongolian-Nairobi Railway, which draws on the experience of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, WWF Global Director-General Marco Lambertini once praised: Chinese companies have proven that infrastructure construction can be environmentally friendly.

　　The "making friends" between wild animals and China's infrastructure projects is a vivid manifestation of China's project construction respecting nature, conforming to nature, and protecting nature.

From the Qinghai-Tibet Railway to the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway, the ecological protection awareness of China's engineering construction has been continuously improved, and the environmental protection experience has been continuously enriched.

　　Wu Xiaomin, a Tibetan antelope conservation expert and a researcher at the Shaanxi Institute of Zoology (Northwestern Endangered Animals Institute), said that under the protection of various parties, the migration path and area of ​​Tibetan antelopes have expanded year by year in recent years. The protection of migration corridors has achieved remarkable results.

　　"Railways may have an impact on the activities of wild animals, but the animal passages have played a very good role in returning to normal activities." Dr. Benson Okita, head of the research department of "Save the Elephants", a public welfare organization for the protection of wild animals in Kenya Evaluation of the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway.

The CNN Travel Channel even listed "ride the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway" as one of the 20 most worthwhile things to do in Kenya.

　　The lovely creatures are treated with gentleness by the Chinese builders, and this kindness will eventually be transformed into a beautiful picture of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

(Reporters involved: Sun Ruibo, Wu Di, Gao Xi, Li Qian, Yang Yi, Zhao Yuhe)