"Green" protection makes the west more beautiful--Observation on ecological protection in the western region

Thousands of mountains crisscross here, standing upright on the backbone of the western landscape; rivers here flow and nourish all things on the earth. The beautiful western region of the motherland is home to important ecological resources such as snow mountains and glaciers, mountains and canyons, lakes and wetlands, and grassland forests. It is an important ecological security barrier for the country.

These are trees planted on the broad riverbed and bank of the Yarlung Zangbo River. Photo by Xinhua Agency reporter Jin Mei Duoji

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, all parts of the western region have firmly established and practiced the concept of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", and coordinated the integrated protection and systematic management of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grass, sand and ice. The quality of the ecological environment has been steadily improved, and the green industry has flourished. Today, a "Western Chorus" that prioritizes ecology, green and low-carbon development is being played in the land of the motherland.

Great protection: Protect living beings, vegetation, rivers and mountains

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the roof of the world and the water tower of Asia. In recent years,XizangPromulgate and implement the Autonomous Region's National Ecological Civilization Highlands Construction Regulations, Air Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations, and revise the Ecological and Environmental Protection Regulations to provide strong legal support for maintaining the ecological bottom line.

"We have established a nature reserve system with national parks as the main body, including more than 600,000 square kilometers of land into the ecological protection red line; we have built 47 nature reserves at all levels and types, with a total area of 412,200 square kilometers."XizangThe relevant person in charge of the Autonomous Region Department of Ecology and Environment said.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the ecologically fragile western region has launched a battle to protect the ecological environment according to local conditions--

To protect the Yellow River, a series of institutional plans have been issued one after another-the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Outline of the Yellow River Basin Ecological Protection and High-Quality Development Plan" to draw a long-term blueprint for protecting the mother river; the Yellow River Protection Law will come into effect on April 1, 2023, providing a strong legal guarantee for the protection and governance of the Yellow River...

Over the years, Gansu Province has accelerated the implementation of a number of major ecological protection, restoration and construction projects in areas such as the water conservation area of the upper reaches of the Yellow River in Gannan. After the continuous battle against desertification control in the first bend of the Yellow River, the "first bend of the Yellow River in the world", where river sand eroded and sand entered and retreated into grass, is now green again.

Protect fragile and sensitive ecological environments and implement national park construction mechanisms. In October 2021, the first batch of five national parks in my country, including Sanjiangyuan, were officially established. Today, under the protection of the national park system and mechanism, the ecological environment in the Sanjiangyuan area continues to improve. The number of Tibetan antelopes has recovered from less than 20,000 to more than 70,000, and the snow leopard population has exceeded 1200.

Grand governance: Building a strong national ecological security barrier

Qilian Mountains are an important ecological security barrier in western my country. Once upon a time, mining, hydropower stations, and tourism development made the Qilian Mountains very lively, but excessive and disorderly development also overloaded the fragile and sensitive ecosystem here, destroying mountains and stripping vegetation.

In 2017, the Qilian Mountains underwent a rectification and rectification of ecological and environmental problems that were severely eradicated. After several years of hard work, 144 mining rights have been classified and withdrawn, 42 hydropower stations have been classified and disposed of, and 25 tourist facility projects have been renovated... The damaged ecosystem in the reserve has been able to recuperate.

In the process of remediation and restoration of outstanding ecological and environmental problems, the western region has repaid many years of ecological debts and created a world-renowned miracle of ecological protection.

Fuxian Lake in Yunnan is one of the few freshwater lakes with Class I water quality in my country, and the ecological environment of the basin is fragile. Hou Rongkun's family has lived by Fuxian Lake for generations. A few years ago, he and the villagers moved away from his hometown. The former land for building houses is now a green wetland. "To make the environment of our homeland better, our sacrifice is worth it." he said.

Since the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan", Yunnan has focused on important lake basins and implemented pilot projects such as the Fuxian Lake landscape, forest, farmland, lake and grass ecological protection and restoration project. At present, Fuxian Lake has 130,000 acres of new water conservation area, and the overall water quality of the entire lake remains Class I.

Promote comprehensive management of the ecological environment and restore clear water and blue skies in the west.

In the golden autumn of October, in Qingxi Wetland Park in Neijiang City, Sichuan, the sun shines on the clear water of the Tuojiang River, and the reeds on both sides sway in the wind.

The Tuojiang River is an important tributary of the Yangtze River. Since the 1990s, with the continuous acceleration of industrialization and urbanization, the Tuojiang River has once become the most polluted river in Sichuan and even the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. In recent years, Sichuan Province has severely investigated and dealt with environmental violations, established more than 10,000 five-level river chiefs, established a horizontal ecological protection compensation mechanism in river basins, and changed "decentralized management" of water pollution prevention and control to "coordinated management"... Tuojiang River Reappears clear water and green banks.

Moving towards "green": adding momentum to high-quality development in the western region

The Yarlung Zangbo River runs all the way and meets the beautiful Niyang RiverXizangNyingchi has formed a Yani National Wetland Park with an area of more than 130,000 acres.

With the delineation of ecological protection red lines and the advancement of wetland park construction, people in Bayi District, who have laid down their herders, have begun to develop eco-tourism and other industries. In 2023, Yani National Wetland Park received 277,600 tourists, with revenue from the scenic area nearly 18.75 million yuan.

Walking in the western part of the motherland, you can see more and more green with the naked eye, and what you hear is the consensus of cadres and the masses on green development.

The total amount of green energy development in Yunnan Province is 200 million kilowatts. In recent years, the development of wind power and photovoltaic power in Yunnan Province has been comprehensively accelerated, and the cumulative installed capacity of hydropower has reached 82.7 million kilowatts. The surging "green electricity" is becoming a strong support for the development of Yunnan's green and low-carbon cycles.

How to achieve high-quality development and high-level protection and win-win results? All parts of the western region continue to accumulate "green quality" and "green power" for high-quality industrial development and accelerate the green transformation of economic and social development.

In recent years, green new energy industries represented by crystalline silicon photovoltaics and power batteries have emerged in Sichuan. According to statistics, in 2023, Sichuan Province will create a total of 657 national and provincial green factories, 89 green industrial parks, and 11 green supply chain management companies; the Sichuan carbon market has accumulated more than 38 million tons of transactions.

Anchoring to build a national clean energy industry highland, Qinghai Province vigorously promotes the development of photovoltaics and wind power. As of June 30 this year, the total installed capacity of power supply in Qinghai Province was 57.7286 million kilowatts, of which the installed capacity of clean energy was 53.8372 million kilowatts.

People live up to the green mountains, and the green mountains will surely live up to people.

"The construction of ecological civilization has added new momentum to the high-quality development of the western region." Duan Changqun, distinguished professor of ecology at Yunnan University, said that a greener, more open and more beautiful west is standing at a new starting point and taking advantage of the momentum to write a new chapter of high-quality development.