Chinese landscape engineering has been recognized by the international community Wuliangsuhai has once again become a "Fish and Bird Paradise"
"Pearl beyond the Great Wall" regains its brilliance
Our reporter Wang Yajing
At the second phase of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity held recently, the "China Landscape Project" was selected as one of the first ten "World Ecological Restoration Flagship Projects" by the United Nations, and China's experience in ecological governance has been recognized. recognized by the international community.
The "China Landscape Project" is an integrated protection and restoration project of mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes, grass and sand promoted by the Chinese government. So far, 44 projects have been implemented.
As one of them, the ecological protection and restoration project of the Wuliangsuhai River Basin has entered the overall acceptance stage.
Wuliangsuhai is located in Bayannur City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It used to be the largest freshwater lake in the Yellow River Basin. It was once turned into a "smelly pond" due to sedimentation and environmental pollution.
In recent years, through ecological management, the water quality here has improved significantly, and the biodiversity has continued to recover.
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "I have given many instructions on Wuliangsuhai. Now it can be seen that the governance has achieved remarkable results, and it will take a long time to achieve it." With the continuous advancement of ecological governance and protection, this "pearl outside the Great Wall" is regaining its brilliance .
1 The fungus grown from reed powder in the lake area can be eaten after picking
At the end of the year, the weather is extremely cold, and the ice on the surface of Wuliangsuhai Lake has become so strong that you can drive on it.
In the past few days, the forklifts of Inner Mongolia Tianjiao Wuliangsuhai Reed Weaving Co., Ltd. are harvesting reeds on the lake. After the bundles of reeds are transported back, they will be screened. The high flexibility and good quality will become the best materials for making reed mats and reed curtains. raw material.
Zhang Haiying is a weaver of the company's reed curtains. Her home is located in the Qifen of Wuliangsuhai Fishing Ground in Urad Front Banner, Bayannaoer City, which is only a three-minute walk from Wuliangsuhai.
Zhang Haiying was originally a fisherman fishing in the Wuliangsu sea. In 2020, out of the need to protect the surrounding ecological environment, she and other fishermen in the village responded to the government's call and went ashore.
After being a fisherman all her life, Zhang Haiying suddenly left her old business. She didn't know what she could do. Fortunately, she tapped the resource advantages of Wuliangsuhai in the local area and developed an ecological characteristic industry, which provided employment opportunities for the former fishermen's families.
Zhang Haiying is meticulous and skillful, and after training, he quickly started to weave reeds.
"I operate a machine by myself. I can weave 20 reed curtains a day, and I can earn tens of thousands of yuan a year. It is much easier than fishing." Zhang Haiying said that the ecological environment of Wuliangsuhai has improved in the past two years. It looks good and exudes a unique fragrance.
From the yard of Zhang Haiying's house, you can see Wuliangsuhai, and some unharvested reeds are swaying in the wind.
Zhang Haiying said that when the spring is warm and the flowers bloom, various water birds can be seen everywhere on the lake.
In the past few years, there have been many more birds, and some of them cannot be named.
Zhang Haiying married to Qifenchang in the early 1990s, and she has seen the process of Wuliangsuhai's environmental deterioration due to pollution and then improved due to governance.
"In the past, the water here was very clear, and we dared to drink it directly. We went out to fish, and when we caught the fish, we boiled them directly with the water in the lake." Zhang Haiying said, "It didn't work later, the water got worse and worse. The more it smells, the lower the water level is. When the wind blows, the whole village smells bad. The most terrible thing is that in summer, the whole lake is covered with algae, which is sticky and thick like an old green blanket at home. , the boat went in, but it couldn’t move. Many people in the village lost their livelihood and went out to work.”
The transformation began with ecological management a few years ago. In response to the pollution problem in Wuliangsuhai, the local area shut down the heavily polluting factories in the surrounding area. At the same time, it upgraded the sewage treatment plant, standardized the discharge of domestic sewage, dredged the silt, and increased the ecological water supply of the Yellow River.
The "seriously ill" Wuliang Suhai began to get better little by little.
An initial improvement was the disappearance of the stench that plagued the villagers.
This year, Zhang Haiying saw the white fish that had been extinct for many years through the clear lake water on the boat.
"This kind of fish has high requirements on water quality. Without good water, there will be no such fish."
The environment is gradually improving, and the villagers' awareness of protecting Wuliangsuhai is also increasing.
Zhang Haiying said: "Using the reeds in the lake area can not only optimize the environment, but also generate income. I didn't know before that this thing can not only weave mats, handicrafts, handbags, but also grow fungus."
The "planting fungus" in Zhang Haiying's mouth is to crush the reeds and make them into fungus sticks for producing sling fungus.
Xu Jinshan, person in charge of Wuliangsuhai Minben Mushroom Pack Planting Co., Ltd., said: "The fungus sticks made of reed powder are very dry and clean, without Aspergillus flavus, and the grown fungus can be eaten after picking, and the taste is crisp. Our company Most of the employees are employees of the local fishing grounds, working for a few months in winter and spring every year can drive them to increase their income by about 20,000 yuan."
2 50 more mute swans observed this year
In the Wuliangsuhai area, there is a saying: "Migratory birds know best whether the ecology is good." As the ecology here gradually improves, migratory birds that were extinct in the past have returned one after another.
According to Zhao Jianzhong, the person in charge of the Urad Front Banner Environmental Protection Bureau, there are as many as 258 species of wild birds in the Wuliangsuhai Reserve, including 16 species of national Class I protected birds and 52 species of national Class II protected birds.
Every year, about 200,000 wild birds inhabit and breed in the protected area, and the number of passing birds reaches 600,000.
Among the many birds in the Wuliangsuhai area, the mute swan is quite an eye-catching one.
This swan has a slender neck and a prominent wart on its forehead, hence the name.
Every year in mid-to-late March, when the spring is warm and the flowers are blooming, these swans will appear in Wuliangsuhai; when the weather turns cold in autumn and winter, they will collectively fly to the south for the winter.
Zhao Jianzhong said that the number of mute swans observed in the reserve this year totaled more than 650, an increase of about 50 compared with previous years.
The 61-year-old Luo Yuezhong is a caretaker in the Wuliangsuhai Reserve. He is as familiar with mute swans as he is with his own children.
Luo Yuezhong used to be a wild bird protection volunteer. Last year, the Conservation Bureau hired him as a caretaker. His job is to check whether there are fishing and bird hunting activities every day, observe the species and quantity of wild birds, and take pictures to record them.
When encountering single or injured birds, rescue will be carried out.
Among the hundreds of mute swans living in Wuliangsuhai, one is named "Yueyue" after Luo Yuezhong.
In March this year, in order to better understand the habits and living conditions of mute swans, the staff of the Conservation Bureau selected a group of mute swans and put satellite trackers on them.
Yueyue was the first one to wear a satellite tracker.
Luo Yuezhong said that he has observed Yueyue for nearly a year, watching it build nests, raise babies, and bring up babies... Until November this year, Yueyue's family flew away from Wuliangsuhai and flew southeast along the Yellow River to find warm A place to escape the cold winter.
"I didn't know where the mute swans in Wuliangsuhai spent the winter before. Now that I have a tracker, I can record their migration routes in detail." Luo Yuezhong opened the notebook, which was full of Yueyue's whereabouts: " At 8 o'clock in the morning, I went to the Kubuqi Desert Shenquan tourist attraction in Zhungeer Banner, Ordos; I set off again at 8 o'clock in the evening, and arrived at the vicinity of Bohai Bay in Cangzhou City, Hebei Province at 10 o'clock in the morning the next day; and then arrived at Dongying City, Shandong Province Wetlands near the mouth of the Yellow River in Liqu." Luo Yuezhong said that he is now looking forward to their smooth return next year.
However, not all migratory birds can fly to the south for the winter smoothly like Yueyue. There are always some who are left behind in the biting cold wind of Wuliangsuhai in winter due to illness, injury or other reasons.
For these birds, the wildlife rescue center in the reserve has become their temporary wintering place.
Luo Yuezhong said that starting from September every year, the reserve will carry out a special operation to protect migratory birds in autumn and winter to find out whether there are migratory birds that failed to migrate due to injuries or illnesses.
Zhao Jianzhong told reporters that up to now, the protection bureau has rescued 35 wild birds, including 31 mute swans.
Among the rescued birds, 5 mute swans and 1 gray goose successfully migrated after being rescued and recovered.
These days, Luo Yuezhong and his colleagues are still looking for mute swans that have not migrated successfully. At the same time, they will also publicize in surrounding villages and towns, calling on the public to send injured and sick wild birds to the reserve for wildlife rescue. center.
Luo Yuezhong said that he likes Wuliangsuhai, where there are swans, because there are birds here, and he hopes that more mute swans will thrive here.
3 Not only control sand, but also increase income
"Mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grass, and sand" is a complete ecosystem, and we must adhere to integrated protection and systematic treatment.
The improvement of Wuliangsuhai’s ecology is not just water treatment, but the result of multiple measures such as sand control, tree planting, and grass planting.
The Ulan Buhe Desert in Bayannaoer City is located at the upstream source of the Uliangsuhai River Basin. The long yellow sand not only poses a threat to the lives of local people, but also brings damage to the ecology of Uliangsuhai.
In recent years, Bayannaoer City has vigorously implemented the actions of planting trees and grass, windbreak and sand fixation, and has also developed an organic ecological planting model according to the local ecological conditions, forming aerial photovoltaic panels (new energy) + ground Haloxylon forest (carbon sink forest) + Underground cistanche (traditional Chinese medicine) + forest livestock and poultry (animal husbandry) The ecological restoration community where man and nature coexist harmoniously.
In Dengkou County, Bayannaoer City, there is a jingle: "Green gold is produced under the Haloxylon tree." The "green gold" here is Cistanche.
Haloxylon forest is the main plant for windbreak and sand fixation in the local area, and Cistanche is a parasitic plant that can parasitize the roots of Haloxylon tree without affecting the growth of Haloxylon tree.
Wei Jun, chairman of Wangyedi Cistanche Biological Co., Ltd., a cistanche planting company in Dengkou County, was originally a farmer in Dengkou County. Three generations of grandparents have been fighting against the desert.
In 2003, he discovered at an exhibition that Cistanche can be grown under Haloxylon trees.
In 2006, he contracted 50,000 mu of desert in the Ulan Buhe desert. He first put grass grids on the sand, and then planted Haloxylon forest in the grass grids. The Haloxylon forest came alive, and then passed through the roots of the Haloxylon forest. Cistanche deserticola is cultivated by artificial grafting.
Not only has sand been controlled, but income has also been increased.
In recent years, the company has grown bigger and bigger and developed into a local pillar industry. Many herdsmen who used to make a living by raising cattle and sheep have started working in Wei Jun's company.
The industrialization of sand control is a green development path explored by Bayannur City.
In addition to the cistanche industry, organic pastures, ecological melon gardens, and photovoltaic agricultural gardens have also been developed in the local area.
At the forage base of Shengmu Hi-Tech Co., Ltd., Huang Yongqiang, the person in charge, said: "The company has formed an organic pasture in the desert through governance. The organic forage is used to feed the cows, and the cow dung is used as fertilizer for the land, forming a benign organic milk industry chain with sandy grass. .”
After unremitting efforts, the ecological environment of Ulanbu and the desert is showing a trend of "overall containment and partial improvement".
According to a document from the Bayannur City Desert Comprehensive Management Center, 129 leading enterprises in the sand industry in the city controlled 900,000 mu of sand, and rebuilt a large-scale windbreak and sand-fixing forest belt in the Ulan Buhe Desert, which is 154 kilometers long and more than 50 meters wide. Effectively curbed the eastward invasion of Ulanbu and the desert.
Compared with five years ago, the area of desertified land has decreased by 26,000 hectares, the proportion of mobile sandy land and semi-fixed sandy land has also dropped from 18% in the past to 12%, and the vegetation coverage has reached more than 50%.
The amount of sand transported by the Ulan Buhe Desert to the Yellow River has dropped from about 70 million tons in the past to about 3.7 million tons at present.
The improvement of Ulanbu and the desert environment has also protected the downstream Ulan Suhai from the invasion of yellow sand.
(China Discipline Inspection and Supervision News)