[Construction of an important ecological security barrier in northern China] - Horqin District, Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia: green "lock" yellow sand, refresh the "ecological appearance"!
Horqin District, Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia is located in the hinterland of Horqin Sandy Land, and the desertified land area accounts for nearly 1/5 of the total land area of the district.
In the middle of summer, the sun is shining, the Horqin sandy land is full of green, and a group of cycling enthusiasts are on the wide road, with rows of green trees and green grass on both sides of the road.
Historically, the Horqin Sandy Land is known as the 800-mile Hanhai Sea, with water and grass in the sky, gulls and herons like clouds. Due to the lack of human disturbance, there is no over-reclamation and grazing, and it is integrated with the Horqin grassland, forming a natural geographical landscape of forests, grasslands and sand dunes.
With the changes of the times, due to the influence of various factors such as climate change, population increase, land reclamation, overgrazing, indiscriminate deforestation, etc., the forest and grass vegetation is increasingly degraded, the land is gradually desertified, and the ecological balance is seriously out of balance.
In order to get rid of the hazards of sandstorms and completely change the harsh environment of "sand entering and people retreating", since 1978, Horqin District has insisted on putting sand prevention and control and ecological protection in a prominent position.
At present, the desertified land in Horqin District has been effectively controlled, realizing the historic transformation from "sand entering and people retreating" to "green entering and sand retreating", and a beautiful home where man and nature coexist in harmony.
Scientific planning to find a good cure for desertification
The land area of Horqin District is 4.61 million mu, and the desertification land management task of the forestry and grassland department is about 809,100 mu. The Horqin sandy plain is widely distributed, and the aeolian sandy soil is the basic soil type of the Horqin sandy land. The problem of land desertification is the key and difficult point of ecological construction in Horqin District, and it is an important constraint to sustainable economic and social development. The successive leadership groups of Horqin District have attached great importance to the work of desertification prevention and control, scientifically determined the guidelines, basic ideas, strategic measures and goals for desertification prevention and control in the new era in view of the problem of land desertification, refined and decomposed each target task, organized forestry technicians to go deep into the towns and towns to carry out afforestation planning, design and technical guidance, and covered each small class plot, comprehensively found out the base of the current situation of Horqin Sandy Land, and clarified the governance tasks, timetables and operational maps.
Change the concept and adapt measures to local conditions. In view of the type, characteristics and degree of desertification of land in Horqin District, the suitable tree species were scientifically selected, the grass planting and tree planting were combined with the later maintenance, and the measures were adapted to local conditions, the key points were highlighted, the amount of land was expanded, the stock was optimized, and the quality was improved, so as to promote land greening on a larger scale, improve the living environment, and achieve new improvements in afforestation and greening.
Ecological priority and coordinated development. Scientifically use ecological resources, accelerate the development of ecological industries, make overall plans for industrial layout, build an industrial system with industrial chain extension and supplement chain as the starting point, and achieve new improvements in green development.
Categorize policies to solve the problem of desertification control
"Desert is not a disease, desertification is a disease, desertification is called the cancer of the earth, it must be cured!" "One of the most important manifestations of desertification in China is land desertification, and desertification prevention and control and land greening are major measures to curb land degradation in northern China, and it is China's national action to deal with desertification.
In accordance with the principle of adapting measures to local conditions and comprehensive management, Horqin District adheres to the principle of natural restoration, supplemented by artificial measures, and combines suitable forests with forests and grasses, trees and shrubs, with mesh, and forbidden, and has successively implemented major ecological construction projects such as the "Three Norths" project, the afforestation project of returning farmland to forests, the afforestation project loaned by the European Investment Bank, and the integrated protection and restoration project of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands and sands in Horqin. Focusing on natural restoration, supplemented by artificial measures, scientific policies, precise management, and annihilation are carried out according to factors such as different degrees of desertification, land attributes, and site conditions.
Strengthen the protection of bans and implement the "three bans" system. We should earnestly draw lessons from the long-standing experience of tackling and destroying at the same time, put an end to destructive behaviors such as indiscriminate reclamation, indiscriminate grazing, and indiscriminate mining, curb the revitalization of sandy land, and protect the vegetation in sandy areas. Adopt measures to plant trees and grasses to restore forest and grass vegetation in sandy areas. The area of forest and grass vegetation should be expanded through measures such as closing mountains (sand) and cultivating forests (grasses) and artificial afforestation (planting grasses). Measures should be taken to return farmland to forests (grasslands) to curb the formation of new desertification. Returning farmland to forests and grasslands should be carried out in a planned manner on sloping farmland and desertified farmland with low and unstable grain output and unsuitable for cultivation. Measures such as improving animal husbandry methods, improving animal husbandry structure, and improving pastures should be adopted to restore and enhance the productive capacity and ecological functions of grasslands, implement a ban on grazing and feeding, and change stocking to captive breeding, so as to reduce the pressure of vegetation destruction. Shelterbelts should be created to reduce wind speed and reduce and block wind and sand. By creating a network of grassland shrubs and a network of farmland forests, farmland and pastures can be protected from the hazards of wind and sand, and stable and high grain yields can be promoted.
Co-supervise and co-manage the results of sand control
Desertification prevention and control is a long-term and arduous task that requires the joint efforts of the whole society, especially the extensive participation of the masses in the prevention and control areas. Strengthen leadership and strengthen safeguards. Adhere to the unified organization and leadership of the regional party committee and government, incorporate the war of annihilation of the Horqin Sandy Land into the overall economic and social development of the whole region to plan, comprehensively implement the forest chief system, include desertification prevention and control work in the important indicators of the assessment of the forest chief system, and persist in grasping economic development with one hand and ecological construction and protection with the other.
Strict protection and consolidation of achievements. Relevant departments conscientiously implement the "Desertification Prevention and Control Law", "Grassland Law", "Forest Law", "Soil and Water Conservation Law" and other laws and regulations, strengthen the construction of forest and grassland law enforcement teams and grassroots law enforcement forces, carry out in-depth special actions to ban grazing and fallow grazing, and severely crack down on acts such as destroying ecological red lines, indiscriminate reclamation, indiscriminate grazing, illegal exploitation of groundwater, overgrazing, and illegal development of the understory economy in accordance with the law, and resolutely protect the achievements of ecological construction.
Increase investment and activate the mechanism. Actively strive for national investment, and at the same time encourage farmers and herdsmen to participate in desertification prevention and control through land transfer, land shareholding and other forms, support enterprises and private capital to invest in the construction of forest, grass and sand industry bases, integrate sand management and forestry and grass industry, and effectively promote desertification prevention and control. At the same time, when choosing afforestation mode, management technology and management direction, it is necessary to combine it with the interests of afforestation and greening, so as to unify the ecological, social and economic benefits, so as to fully attract all sectors of society and natural people to devote themselves to desert management, give full play to the creativity of afforestation, forest protection and forest management, enhance people's sense of responsibility for afforestation and forest protection, and lay a mass foundation for popularizing ecological management technology, improving the effectiveness of ecological construction and consolidating the achievements of ecological construction.
Green development is also a better home
Today's Horqin Sandy Land symbolizes the continuous extension of vibrant green, and the yellow sand of the past has a new look. The basic farmland in the whole region has achieved full coverage of the forest network, the total mileage of green channel construction is more than 300 kilometers, the greening rate of national and provincial trunk lines has reached 100%, and all 378 villages have been greened. Since 1978, air quality has continued to improve, and the number of polluted days has shown a decreasing trend, with the number of days with good air quality reaching 339 in 2022. In 2022, the average number of dust days in the region was 6.3 days, a decrease of 21.4 days from 27.7 days in 1978. Efforts have been made to prevent and control desertification for a long time, and the historic transformation of "green and rich prosperity" has been realized. On the basis of marketization and industrialization, Horqin District has actively adjusted the forestry structure and developed an economic forestry industry suitable for local characteristics and prospects, which has achieved long-term results in increasing the income of farmers and herdsmen, increasing the efficiency of enterprises, and developing local industries.
Up to now, the total planting area of economic forests in the whole region has reached 220,000 mu, and five major forest fruit tree species in two categories, fresh fruit and woody oilseeds, have been gradually formed.
Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. On the new journey, Horqin District vigorously carries forward the "Three-North Spirit", comprehensively strengthens the protection of ecosystems, coordinates the protection of resources, strives to achieve the "five major governance goals", firmly believes in the war of annihilation of the Horqin Sandy Land, and constantly builds an important ecological security barrier in northern China.
