The world's largest plantation forest is expected to expand its capacity for the second time this year, and the forest land of Saihan Dam is expected to reach 1.2 million mu in 2030

On the Chengde Dam in July, the mountains are full of flowers and the forest sea is green. On the mountain road into Saihanba, cars become walking dragons, and curious children open the skylight to feel the breath of nature. Walking to Saihan Dam, suddenly entering the green world: the trees on both sides of the road stand tall, and the lush forest extends to the horizon; Between the tree-lined paths, several woodpeckers flew overhead; Looking up, large clumps of white clouds fluttered gently in the clear blue sky with the breeze.

Once upon a time, SaihanBa was a desert sandy land where "yellow sand shades the sky and birds have no perch trees"; Today, the world's largest million-acre plantation sea has been built here, which has become an important ecological barrier to guard the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Spanning 60 years, the foresters of Saihanba have worked tirelessly to achieve the green dream and create a miracle on earth.

From one tree to a million acres of forest sea

From the Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm to the west, the chess line road is surrounded by dense forests on both sides, driving about 6 kilometers, turning from the road to the north side of the forest dirt road, you can go deep into the hinterland of the forest farm - Shanghai Memorial Forest. The stone monument of the "Source of Green" stands in the memorial forest, and a squirrel forages in the grass on both sides of the stele, and in a short while it raises its front legs and stands to nibble on grass seeds. Seeing the reporter a few meters away, the squirrel did not seem to be afraid, still standing idly, and after a while disappeared into the grass and climbed up the treetops.

Trees, which are now the most common thing in SaihanBa, were once the rarest things. In the late Qing Dynasty, saihan dam was reclaimed, trees were cut down, and the original forest gradually degenerated into wasteland and sand. In the 1950s, the saihanba was full of grass and trees, and the yellow sand was filled with yellow sand, and the wind and sand flew and pounced on the city of Beijing. In 1962, the former State Forestry Department urgently deployed 127 graduates from 24 colleges and universities in 18 provinces and cities across the country, and together with 242 local cadres and workers, set up the Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm and marched into the desert.

"At that time, we drank snow water, rainwater, water from ditches and ponds, and ate black noodles, potatoes and pickles." Chen Yanxian, who resolutely went to the dam with 5 female classmates, is now full of silver hair, recalling that year, her eyes are still full of determination, "Whenever I see the saplings I planted by my own hands grow into a big tree, my happiness is indescribable." ”

At the beginning, the afforestation survival rate of the forest farm was less than 8%, and everyone's enthusiasm was hit hard. Wang Shanghai, the first party secretary of the forest farm, had the strength not to accept defeat, and he rode his horse all over the mountains and mountains of the forest farm. After the two failed afforestation attempts in 1962 and 1963, the "Horseshoe Pit Afforestation Conference" was launched in the spring of 1964, and the survival rate of afforestation reached more than 90%. From a tree to a forest sea, the afforestation industry of Saihan Dam has been fully developed, and the afforestation of 80,000 mu per year at most. The spirit of loyalty to the mission runs through Wang Shanghai's life, after his death in 1989, his family obeyed his will and scattered his ashes in Saihanba, and the forest that accompanied him to sleep is now called "Shanghai Memorial Forest", which has become the origin of millions of acres of forest sea.

Afforestation and forest protection technology is constantly innovating

The sassafras pines of the Shanghai Memorial Forest are 30 meters high, and the spacing of each large tree is almost the same, and the height of the dark green canopy is almost the same, and the rows and columns are neatly aligned. Locals told reporters that the saihan dam frost-free period is short, the growth period of trees is also very short, trees can only grow a little bit every year, and behind the neat and upright woods is the careful care of foresters.

Cold and hot. In the past 60 years, with the efforts of three generations, saihan dam has been afforested in an area of more than 1.1 million mu and nearly 500 million trees have been planted. In the northernmost part of Hebei Province, on the southern edge of the Hunshandak Sandy Land on the Inner Mongolian Plateau, the world's largest plantation forest has been built. If you arrange the trees here at a distance of one meter, you can circle the earth's equator 12 times.

With the deepening of the task of afforestation, Saihanba has continuously innovated in afforestation technology. Foresters have successively improved the original afforestation machinery, improved the traditional shading seedling method, created the alpine all-light seedling technology, innovated the three-shovel and half-planting method, introduced the drought-resistant tree species sassafras pine, solved the intensive management of major tree species, prevented and controlled the spread of harmful organisms such as pine caterpillars and larch inchworms, and created a forest management technology system such as seedlings, afforestation, care, and protection.

Since 2017, the Saihanba people have made the stony slopes with poor soil, exposed rocks and rapid evaporation the focus of afforestation, declaring war on the "hard bones" of the steep slopes of the mountains. The soil in these places is only a few centimeters thick, which is equivalent to "planting trees on bluestone slabs". Steep slopes, hard stones, no roads, machinery can not work, use mules or people on their backs. Relying on the hard work and tenacity of the Saihanba people, since 2017, saihanba has attacked and afforested 101,000 mu on the stony hillside, and the survival rate of afforestation has reached 98%.

This piece of green is not easy to come by, and it is not easy to protect this green. A little bit of Mars, a moment of carelessness, may destroy this forest sea. Peng Zhijie, director of the Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm Fire Prevention Office, told reporters that in order to ensure the safety of forest resources, the forest farm has established an integrated forest fire prevention early warning and monitoring system of "sky and ground", which has effectively improved the ability to prevent fires and realized the organic combination of satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles, fire detection radar, video surveillance, alpine observation, and ground patrol to respond quickly. At the same time, 9 Wanghai towers have been built deep in the forest farm, and the fire prevention period is monitored by the watchman 24 hours a day.

The green barrier has become a "green bank"

Saihan Dam has built a solid green barrier of millions of acres of forest sea, effectively blocking the southern invasion of the Hunshandak Sandy Land, and conserving water sources for the lower reaches of the Luan River and the Liao River every year. Purify 284 million cubic meters of fresh water, equivalent to 4.7 Ming Tombs reservoirs, prevent soil loss of 5.1355 million tons per year; fix 860,300 tons of carbon dioxide per year, which can offset the annual carbon dioxide emissions of 860,000 household fuel cars; and release 598,400 tons of oxygen per year, equivalent to the oxygen content of 2.19 million people breathing in the air for a year. The "Great Green Wall" guards the ecological security of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and even North China.

Saihanba's good ecological environment and rich species resources make it a precious and natural gene bank of animal and plant species, with 261 species of terrestrial wild vertebrates, 32 species of fish, 660 species of insects, 179 species of macrofungals and 625 species of plants. Not only has it become a "model for the construction of ecological civilization" in China, but the forest farm builders have also been awarded the "Champions of the Earth Award" by the United Nations Environment Programme.

In recent years, Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm has continuously helped poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, benefiting more than 40,000 people and driving 22,000 poor people out of poverty through village assistance, eco-tourism and seedling production. In February 2021, Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm was elected as a national model for poverty alleviation. Nowadays, the forest farm has become a "green bank" that drives the masses to get rich.

This year, Saihan Dam ushered in the 60th anniversary of its establishment, and they are fully carrying out "secondary entrepreneurship". It is estimated that by 2030, the area of forest land in forest farms will reach 1.2 million mu, the forest coverage rate will increase to 86%, the forest ecosystem will be more stable, healthy, high-quality and efficient, and the ecological service function will be significantly enhanced.

Li Yongdong, deputy director of the Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm, told reporters that this year, a total of 6,600 mu of afforestation was carried out in accordance with the way of "seeing the seams and inserting needles". The forest area continues to improve the quality of afforestation, from the seedlings, land preparation, planting and other links, the use of technical means to ensure that a piece of planting, a piece of survival, a piece of forest. Previously, the forest area was mainly dominated by the three major conifer species of larch, sassafras pine and spruce, in order to improve the structure of a single tree species in the forest area, this year specially emphasized the creation of mixed forests, and at the same time introduced some shrubs suitable for local growth under the forest, such as catalpa tree, pentagram maple, purple leaf thick plum, etc. In terms of forest management, the implementation of the "blind area clearance" project, "as far as possible so that the forest does not care for blind spots, there is no blank spot in management." "In the seedling industry, forest by-product sales, rural tourism and other aspects can drive the forest area and the surrounding people to get rich, the forest area is also exploring the forestry carbon sink trading this ecological compensation model, continue to excavate the ecological value of the Saihan Dam."

The ecological benefits of the Saihan Dam are gradually emerging

The World's Largest Plantation Forest

◆ In the past 60 years, the afforestation area of Saihan Dam has exceeded 1.1 million mu. If you arrange the trees here at a distance of one meter, you can circle the earth's equator 12 times

◆ Since 2017, Saihan Dam has attacked afforestation of 101,000 mu on the stony hillside, and the afforestation survival rate has reached 98%

◆ Afforestation in 2022 is 6,600 mu, and it is expected that by 2030, the afforestation area will reach 1.2 million mu

A strong green barrier

◆ It effectively blocked the southern invasion of Hunshandak Sandy Land

◆ Conserve water sources and purify 284 million cubic meters of fresh water for the lower reaches of the Luan River and the Lower Liaohe River every year, and prevent soil erosion from 5,135,500 tons per year

◆ It can fix 860,300 tons of carbon dioxide and release 598,400 tons of oxygen per year, which is equivalent to the oxygen content of 2.19 million people breathing air for one year

Gene bank of natural animal and plant species

◆ There are 261 species of terrestrial wild vertebrates, 32 species of fish, 660 species of insects, 179 species of macromygi, and 625 species of plants

(Reporter Li Ruyi Correspondent Cao Lei Dong Changchun)

Source: Beijing Daily