From soil erosion area to green ＂cornucopia＂ —— Notes on soil erosion control in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, December 25thTitle: From soil erosion area to green "cornucopia" — — Soil erosion control in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River
Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Shiping
The Yangtze River Water Resources Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources recently issued the Announcement on Soil and Water Conservation in the Yangtze River Basin (2020). The monitoring results show that in 2020, the area of soil erosion in the Yangtze River basin will be 337,000 square kilometers. This is nearly 200,000 square kilometers less than the 531,000 square kilometers of soil erosion in the late 1990s.
The reporter learned that soil erosion and its control in the Yangtze River basin are mainly concentrated in the upper and middle reaches. After treatment, the soil erosion area has not only been effectively curbed, but also turned into a green "cornucopia", becoming a green mountain and a Jinshan Yinshan.
Sichuan: the soil erosion area has become a "green and rich beauty" ecological area
Naxi District of Luzhou City is located on the bank of the Yangtze River, which is an important ecological barrier in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. "In the past, the Qingxi River was like a stinking ditch, and the soil erosion in the Qingxi River basin was serious." Jiang Qiwu, director of the Naxi District Water Affairs Bureau, said that in recent years, the combination of governance and protection of the ecological environment has improved the water ecology and water environment.
The water environment has been improved after the regulation of Qingxi River small watershed in Naxi District of Luzhou City.
Changing from "stinking ditch" into Qingshui River and Huimin River is the effort of "seeing the big from the small" in Naxi District: "Small investment" to improve the "big environment", taking 30 million yuan of national special funds for soil and water conservation as a pry point, integrating agricultural funds and inciting social funds of 720 million yuan, realizing the improvement of water quality into the river from inferior V to III, and reducing soil loss by 75,000 tons every year; The "small watershed" has built a "great livelihood", the environment has improved, and tourism has started. At the same time, the implementation of watershed management land transfer and small-scale water storage projects has driven the per capita disposable income of farmers to increase substantially.
Jingyang District of Deyang City, taking the management of Huaixiang Valley small watershed as a breakthrough, through the comprehensive management of landscape Lintian Road Village, combined soil erosion control with the development of rural industry and the improvement of human settlement environment, drew a picture of Jingyang where people and water are in harmony, and successfully established the "National Soil and Water Conservation Demonstration Project" in December 2021.
A glimpse of Gaohuai Village after harnessing the small watershed of Huaixiang Valley in Jingyang District of Deyang City.
"All parts of Sichuan regard the prevention and control of soil erosion as the first move in the construction of ecological civilization, actively carry out small watershed management, implement key projects such as sloping farmland management, improve the ecological environment, and at the same time promote regional economic development and help rural revitalization." Gao Wei, director of the Water and Soil Conservation Division of the Sichuan Provincial Water Resources Department, said.
Statistics show that during the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, the cumulative area of soil erosion control in Sichuan Province was 24,600 square kilometers, and soil erosion in the areas with the most serious soil erosion, such as Jinsha River Basin, Minjiang River Basin and Jialing River Basin, was continuously improved.
Jiangxi: Red soil erosion area becomes green "cornucopia"
Walking into the Garden Village of Shangyou County, Ganzhou City, the village is beautiful and clean. Before 2013, it was still a serious soil erosion area.
What has changed the landscape here is the development of eco-clean small watershed construction. The Garden Village has explored the ways of "three simultaneous treatments" for mountain management, water control and pollution control, mountain management and water conservation, river dredging and water management, industrial water conservation, ecological water purification, and "five-water co-construction" for everyone in love the water. While managing mountains and rivers, Shangyou County was successfully awarded "National Model County for Soil and Water Conservation" in December 2021.
A glimpse of Garden Village in Shangyou County, Ganzhou City.
In the early 1980s, the area of soil erosion in Ganzhou accounted for 37% of the city’s mountainous area. After more than 30 years of comprehensive control, the area of soil erosion has decreased from 11,187 square kilometers in 1980 to 6,949 square kilometers in 2020, and ecological industries such as navel orange and leisure tourism in southern Jiangxi have flourished.
Changshui Village, Wuning County, Jiujiang City, in the north of Jiangxi Province, has achieved 95.2% soil erosion control and 96% forest and grass coverage through the simultaneous implementation of "mountain management, water management and pollution control" measures. In December 2021, the "National Demonstration Project of Soil and Water Conservation" was successfully established.
Ecological revetment engineering in soil erosion control in Wuning county.
Baoshan Village, De ‘an County, Jiujiang City, relied on antimony resources to develop the quarrying economy in the early 1980s. However, the industry is booming, but the environment is deteriorating.
Since 2010, Baoshan Village has closed factories and mines one after another to restore the mine ecology. Villagers have planted cash forest crops such as camellia oleifera and tea on barren hills, making them put on "green clothes" again, and the days of villagers who eat ecological rice are booming again.
According to the dynamic monitoring results of the Ministry of Water Resources in 2020, the area of soil erosion in Jiangxi Province has decreased from 46,200 square kilometers at the worst in the late 1980s to 23,600 square kilometers in 2020, and the proportion of soil erosion in the whole province’s land area has decreased from 27.65% to 14.14%.
"The comprehensive management of soil erosion in Jiangxi Province has effectively promoted ecological protection and rural revitalization." Hu Jianmin, director of the Water and Soil Conservation Department of Jiangxi Provincial Water Resources Department, said.
Yangtze river basin: comprehensive control of soil erosion continues to advance
Soil erosion in the Yangtze River basin is caused by complex geology and geomorphology, abundant rainfall and unreasonable human production activities, with a large amount and various types, mainly in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
"After years of comprehensive management of soil erosion in small watersheds, the trend of soil erosion in the Yangtze River basin has undergone a historic turning point from increasing to decreasing." Zhang Guangfu, director of the Water and Soil Conservation Bureau of the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources, said.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Yangtze River Basin has implemented key water and soil conservation projects, comprehensive soil and water loss control on sloping farmland, clean small watershed construction, rocky desertification control, returning farmland to forests and grasslands, high-standard farmland construction, comprehensive mine improvement and other water and soil conservation ecological construction projects, and the Yangtze River Basin has achieved a double decline in soil and water loss area and intensity grade.
The monitoring results show that the forest coverage rate in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River has reached 47.8% in 2020. The coverage rate of forest and grass vegetation in the Jialing River, the middle and lower reaches of Tuojiang River and the Three Gorges reservoir area in the Yangtze River basin has increased by about 30%, and the area of barren hills and slopes has decreased by 70%.
Ma Jianhua, director of the Yangtze River Water Conservancy Committee of the Ministry of Water Resources, said that there are still 220,000 square kilometers of soil erosion areas in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River that need to be treated urgently. With the economic and social development, it is urgent for soil and water conservation to meet the needs of high-quality development. The phenomenon of extensive soil erosion and serious local problems also exists in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and soil and water conservation has a long way to go.
It is understood that during the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period, the Yangtze River Basin will build a complete soil erosion prevention and control system by promoting coordinated management, comprehensive management, systematic management and source management, and vigorously promote the soil and water conservation work in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River to a new level.