Urumqi, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Title: In Search of the Hero Who Saved the Poplar Forest -- Written on the Occasion of the Completion of the Rescue Operation for the Poplar Forest in the Tarim River Basin
Xinhua News Agency reporters Pan Ying, Zhao Ge and Aman
The Tarim River Basin Poplar Forest Rescue Operation, launched in 2019, brought more than 6 million mu of dying primitive poplar forests back to life, and built a green barrier for more than 10 million people of all ethnic groups south of the Tianshan Mountains near the Taklamakan Desert in the "Sea of Death".
Behind the satisfactory report card of the three-year rescue operation is a group of little-known unsung heroes: they have been stationed in the limelight and no man's land for many years, wading in sand, measuring each poplar forest with their feet; digging canals and diverting rivers to send "life-saving water" to poplars. In the face of hardship, loneliness, and boredom, they are like poplars.
Recently, the reporter came to the depths of the natural poplar forest located in the Tarim River Basin and approached this group.
Watch over the "loneliest outpost"
The state-level public welfare forest Yuli County Camp Management and Protection Station is stationed in an uninhabited area more than 220 kilometers away from the county seat, and 1200 kilometers east to Lop Nur where the "Ancient City of Loulan" is located, which can be called the "loneliest outpost" of the local guardian poplar. The name of the place cannot be found on the map, but the name of the station is taken from the ancient city of Yingpan in the Han and Jin Dynasties found by archaeologists in the nearby desert.
At the Luohu Luoke Management and Protection Station in Luohu County, a national public welfare forest, rangers ride motorcycles across the Tarim River to check the growth of poplars (photo taken on February 22). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Ge
The reporter and his party went east from the camp pan management and protection station, walked through the Gobi Desert, which was full of grass, turned to the southeast, and drove through the potholed sandy land. The sand waves raised by the tires of the car instantly cover the windows on both sides, and the inside of the car is suddenly bright and dark. When the car stopped, a tall poplar tree appeared.
"You see, what would it be like if there were no poplars here?" Pointing to this "frontier position" of windproof and sand fixation, said Ely Nyaz, head of the State-owned Forestry Administration of Yuli County.
"Beep beep", suddenly there was a sound of motorcycles, and 3 figures came out of the dense forest in the distance like a gallop, and stopped in front of them in an instant.
Dressed in gray overalls the color of the Gobi Desert and with a black-red face on the inside of their helmets, they were rangers of the camp coil guard station who were patrolling.
At the national public welfare Forest Li County Camp Coil and Protection Station, before the patrol, station manager Waili Wusman (left) and colleagues pour fuel into a motorcycle (photo taken on February 21). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Ge
The leader is an old man with gray hair, his name is Waili Wusman, 61 years old, the station manager of the management station. "There are mines in this area, there are trucks running, and it is not good to patrol." This season, the external force is most worried about man-made fires, and once a fire occurs, the consequences dare not be imagined.
There are 4 rangers on the station, and the management area is 10.05 million mu. Every day, except for one person on duty at home, the other three people patrol on motorcycles, and they have to drive more than 180 kilometers to the farthest forest area.
In the worn-out pockets of the motorcycle, there was water and bread. At least two people walk together, each person can not bring less than two and a half kilograms of water, is their work "iron law". I couldn't get back to the site that day, so I spent the night in the wilderness.
"Find a leeward place, dig a shallow pit in the sand, make a fire, cover it with sand when the fire is extinguished, and sleep on it in a sleeping bag at night." Wai Li happily shared his wild survival skills, "Spending the night in the wild, the most afraid of encountering wolves, everyone takes turns to keep vigil." ”
At the national public welfare forest Weili County Camp Pan Management and Protection Station, station manager Waili Wusman leaned over and pointed to a cluster of seedlings on the ground like red willow branches, saying that the old poplar who had died of thirst before would grow seedlings from the roots as long as there was water (photographed on February 21). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Ge
Formerly a herder, Waili joined the rangers 20 years ago and has been camping since the station was built in 2016. He said that in the past, the river was cut off, the Tarim River and the Peacock River could not flow, a large number of poplars died, and it was difficult to find a cool shade on a hot day. In recent years, the downstream river has come to water, and the poplar has lived again.
In xinjiang's Tarim River valley, a dead poplar grows new branches (photo taken on February 20). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Ge
Back at the station, towels slapped each other off the sand, and the rangers began to fill out their work logs. It is necessary to refuel, buy medicine, and purchase daily necessities, and get the 34th Regiment of the Second Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps 45 kilometers away. At nightfall, the photovoltaic panels have insufficient power and frequent power outages. Cell phone signals fluctuate and are intermittent.
Yusufu Maimati, 35, said: "It's a bit boring, but I got used to it with my colleagues and couldn't leave. His family is on the edge of the "Rob People's Village" scenic spot near the county seat, and it takes half a day to ride back on a motorcycle.
"There are also happy things, the scenery here, the wild animals, some people want to see it, we look at it every day." They encounter wild camels, snow leopards, wild boars, lynxes, foxes, goose-throated antelopes, etc., and they will record them in their work logs.
"The water is coming, the poplar is more and more, it will definitely be better in the future, I think as long as the body can do it, I will always dry." External forces said.
Open up the "last mile" of life-saving water
The Tarim River is wobbly, and rangers have become river drivers.
Every summer, before the ecological water transmission of the Tarim River, they dredge the old river channel, build ecological diversion canals, simple flood dams, and weave a dense water transmission network between the new and old rivers to ensure that every drop of "life-saving water" flows to the dying poplar.
Birds fly over a sea at the Luohu Luoke Management and Protection Station in Luohu County, a national public welfare forest, on October 27, 2021. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Ge
Yiliham Bao'er Khan, director of the luohu Luoke pipe protection station in Luohu Luoli County, a state-level public welfare forest, said that they dug a ditch between the large and small Haizi in their jurisdiction, successfully "fattened" Haizi, and built more than ten kilometers of diversion canals next to the new river channel, directing ecological water transmission to the old river channel that has been cut off for many years.
Anivar Keranmu, a 59-year-old local herdsman, told reporters: "The effect is particularly obvious, and the poplar trees that have not been watered for 30 to 50 years have basically sprouted and come alive." ”
The frozen lake surface in the depths of the dense forest tens of meters away from the main road of the forest area has begun to melt, and the first batch of needle-tailed ducks and geese visiting this year fly by from time to time. As the area of water increases, the species and number of migratory birds such as black storks and egrets inhabit here are increasing, Yiliham said.
On July 29, 2020, Yiliham, whose online name is "Prince of The Poplar of the Western Regions", successfully diverted the water from the new river to the old river channel, and he took a video to upload Douyin. "Water has come down the Tarim River, and the poplars are finally drafted." He wrote. Unexpectedly, the number of likes quickly approached 160,000, rising by several thousand fans.
Seeing that many netizens left messages thanking them for saving the poplar tree, this middle-aged man was deeply moved. To save Poplar Forest, he is both a participant and a witness. With the strong support of the state, in 2001, the Tarim River implemented ecological water transmission every year, and projects such as national public welfare forest management and protection, returning farmland to forests and grasslands have kept up. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has continued to strengthen ecological protection, and he has also participated in a number of special actions for the prevention and control of spring inchworm aircraft, water management, and social participation in ecological protection for Hu Yanglin.
Love the "Most Beautiful Home"
Ali Nyaz, head of the State-owned Forestry Administration of Yuli County, came to the National Public Welfare Forest, Yuli County Camp Management and Protection Station, and brought vegetables and grain and oil to the rangers (photo taken on February 20). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Ge
Eli Nyaz, 47, started out as a ranger. "When I first joined the work in the 1990s, I saw that the poplar forest of the old river had died in a large area and other vegetation was seriously degraded, and my tears fell, and my heart was particularly uncomfortable." Nowadays, in the summer, millions of acres of poplar forests along the Tarim River are lush, and the windy, sandy weather has decreased significantly, and his biggest feeling is that the people's money bags are bulging, and the awareness of loving the ecological environment is getting stronger and stronger.
In the past, he said, rangers often wrestled with those who destroyed the forest. "Now, the phenomenon of deforestation and indiscriminate logging is no longer visible." Aili said that Yuli County has developed from the original 5 management stations and 15 rangers to 22 management and protection stations and 190 rangers now, and everyone protects the poplar forest in exchange for ecological restoration, and also effectively prevents the merger of the two major deserts of the Taklamakan Desert and the Kumtag Desert.
The persistence of a generation becomes the persistence of a generation.
At the Luohu Luoke Management and Protection Station in The State Public Welfare Forest, Umar Rehman (right), graduated from Xinjiang Agricultural University, and colleagues patrol poplars (photo taken on February 22). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Ge
At the Luohu Luoke Management and Care Station, the reporter met Umar Rehman, who graduated from Xinjiang Agricultural University last year, and "professional counterpart and close to home" is the reason why he chose this job. Wumaier often encounters such problems as how to control poplar aphid diseases and how to help poplar trees grow straighter and more vigorously, "The forest protection profession I studied can continue to accumulate experience, which is also a rare wealth for later life." He smiled shyly.
At the Luohu Luoke Management and Conservation Station in Luohu County, a "00" rear ranger, Mirzati Aniwal (right), and colleagues push a motorcycle across the dunes (photo taken on February 22). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Ge
"Post-00s" ranger Mirzati Aniwal is the youngest member of the station, and the 20-year-old has neat bangs hanging down in front of his forehead, which is even more childish. "My dad was also a ranger and I used to ride his motorcycle on patrols when I was a kid, and I loved the job." Mirzati likes to photograph birds, goose-throated antelopes, foxes and other animals seen in the woods.
"Sometimes when I think of my parents calling them, they will bring good food to see me, and my father always tells me to work hard." Mirzati told reporters that the equipment on the station is very good, there are all-terrain vehicles driven on the sand, there are motorboats driven on the water, and he is recently learning to fly drones.
"During the tourist season, dozens of buses drive by my front road every day, and many people come to see the poplar." Meat Zitan Sidike, who opened a homestay near the scenic spot of the "Luobu Village" in Yuli County, said that once a guest who played photography "complained" to him: "The old poplar who used to go to the front to shoot can't be photographed now, because the forest is in the water!" ”
Aerial view of a poplar forest in the lower Tarim River (drone photo, October 21, 2021). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Ge
The 27-year-old college student who returned to his hometown to start a business is now a local "net red", in addition to opening a homestay, Wei Plough lamb, Rob Hemp Tea, "Ku Buy Qi" (a kind of roasted bread) and other delicacies, through his live broadcast with goods, sold to all parts of the country. Last year, his family helped him invest more than 1 million yuan to carefully decorate this "Loulan Renjia" homestay, and the income reached 80,000 yuan in less than a month after opening in February this year. "The ecological environment in my hometown is getting better and better, the sky is bluer, the water is cleaner, and the poplar forest is more beautiful, and I am particularly proud." He said.
According to the statistics of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Public Welfare Forest Protection Center, from 2019 to 2021, the three-year rescue operation completed the irrigation of 6.8218 million mu of poplar forests; the forest stock in the flood irrigation area increased by more than 680,000 cubic meters compared with before the implementation; the average tree height increased by 0.4 meters to 0.7 meters, and the number of naturally renewed seedlings increased by about 14.27 million.