Preface
The Loess Plateau, once one of the most serious areas of land desertification in China and even in the world, was nicknamed "the scar of the earth" by the United Nations. For many years, this land, which has been invaded by extreme environmental conditions, has been a top priority for China's environmental governance.
So has the land that was sentenced to death by the United Nations now regained its new life after 70 years of China's stubborn governance? Has the Loess Plateau, which was once thought to be incurable, now renewed and full of vitality? What kind of extraordinary journey is this?
The Death of the Loess Plateau
In northern China, there is such a piece of land, which is covered by loess, covering an area of 635,000 square kilometers, which can be called the world's largest loess concentrated distribution area. This is the world-famous Loess Plateau.
The soil layer of the Loess Plateau is 50 to 80 meters thick, and in some places more than 250 meters. These loesses are loose in texture and poor in nutrients, making it difficult for vegetation to survive. In the event of heavy rains, sediment is washed into the Yellow River, making the mother river the most sediment-heavy river in the world.
The ecological environment of the Loess Plateau is so bad that it can be said that "people eat up the trees, and the sheep eat up the grass." The next landscape fades a layer of mud, and a crop is planted and a layer of skin is peeled". The perennial drought and lack of rainfall, coupled with long-term indiscriminate deforestation, caused the vegetation coverage rate to drop to 6.1%.
In the lower reaches of the Yellow River, the riverbed is 16 meters above the ground, and the flooding seriously threatens the lives and property of the people along the river. In the face of all this, even the United Nations has reluctantly declared that there is no cure for the environmental problems of China's Loess Plateau.
The reason why this land has fallen to such a point is actually as early as the Quaternary Ice Age. Under the dry and cold climate conditions of that time, a large amount of sediment carried by the wind gathered here, forming the Loess Plateau today. Before that, it was a vast lake known as the "Loess Plains Lake".
Later, the earth's environment changed dramatically, the lakes gradually dried up, and the prototype of the Loess Plateau gradually appeared. But this is only part of the natural cause, and human activities are accelerating this process.
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the vegetation coverage of the Loess Plateau was still 53%, but by the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, this figure had plummeted to 6.1%. Large-scale deforestation has led to a sharp deterioration of the ecological environment and the problem of soil erosion.
The sediment flooding of the Yellow River is a typical consequence. In 1957, the amount of sediment from the Loess Plateau reached 1.6 billion tons, which was deposited in the river to form an above-ground river, causing serious flooding downstream. In the face of such a dire situation, the country is determined to reverse this decline. From the founding of the People's Republic of China to the present, the road of exploration to control the Loess Plateau can be described as tortuous and arduous.
Difficult path of exploration
1. Setbacks in slope management
In the 50s of the last century, in response to the problem of ecological deterioration on the Loess Plateau, the state decided to adopt the method of slope management. The specific method is to build terraces on the slope to use the vegetation root system to consolidate the soil, and at the same time to solve the problem of food and clothing for the local people.
The idea itself was not bad, but in the actual implementation process, it suffered many setbacks. Instead of curbing soil erosion, the terraces have increased the amount of sediment entering the river. This path does not work, and the experts can only explore a new way out again.
At that time, different experts put forward their own opinions. Some advocate large-scale afforestation, while others argue that sediment should be impounded through the construction of reservoirs. However, in either case, various difficulties have been encountered in the implementation process.
For example, afforestation requires a lot of manpower and material input, and it also has to face problems such as low survival rate of seedlings and difficult management and protection. Although the construction of reservoirs can intercept sediment, it will also flood large areas of fertile land, causing new conflicts. All kinds of difficulties followed, leaving governance workers in a dilemma. They have to rethink and find more effective solutions.
2. The twists and turns of the joint management of ditches and slopes
In the 70s, the academic community proposed a joint management model of ditch and slope. Dams are built in ravines to intercept sediment and use it for farming. This model, which combines desertification control with agricultural production, has achieved some initial results, reducing the flow of sediment into rivers by 200 million tons per year.
It was undoubtedly a good attempt, but it didn't last long. In 1977, the northern Shaanxi region was hit by a catastrophic flood, and this beautiful blueprint was completely shattered. A large number of dikes have been washed away, and the impounded sediment has also been lost.
There are also voices of skepticism in society, and people worry that these massive investments may eventually fail. The confidence of the governance workers has been severely damaged, and some people have even begun to wonder whether the Loess Plateau is really hopeless.
This failure has made experts realize that a single governance model is not enough. They must fundamentally change their thinking and adopt more comprehensive and flexible measures to truly reverse this decline.
3. A turning point for the integrated management of small watersheds
Learning from the lessons of the previous two times, the management workers decided to change their thinking and adopt a comprehensive watershed management approach. They divided the different tributaries and main streams of the Loess Plateau into small sections, and adopted various measures such as afforestation and ditch slope interception of silt according to different topographical and ecological conditions, forming a flexible and diverse comprehensive management system.
This approach to local conditions has yielded remarkable results in the governance work. Different regions have adopted different corresponding measures, which has greatly improved the pertinence and effectiveness of governance.
At the same time, the government has introduced a series of supporting policies, such as a strict ban on agricultural cultivation in areas with poor soil conditions, and has stepped up efforts to rebuild protected forests.
The implementation of these measures has gradually improved the ecological environment of the Loess Plateau. However, further efforts are needed to truly achieve a double harvest of ecology and economy.
Returning farmland to forests and grasslands has yielded a bumper harvest in the environment and economy
In 1999, the state implemented a major initiative -- the project of returning farmland to forests and grasslands. This initiative has not only greatly improved the ecological environment of the Loess Plateau, but also brought tangible economic benefits to the local people.
In order to make the people willing to return to farmland, the government has introduced a series of specific policies. First, they strictly prohibit agricultural planting in areas with weak soil conditions, and have stepped up the reconstruction of protected forests and implemented grid management.
More importantly, the government encourages farmers to take the initiative to participate in returning farmland to forests through economic compensation and other means. For example, the government will give a certain amount of living allowance to farmers who have returned farmland and provide financial support for planting economic forests.
In order to make the masses aware of the importance of environmental protection, the state has also vigorously strengthened public opinion propaganda. Through various media channels, we should publicize the benefits of returning farmland to forests to the vast number of peasants, so that they can take the initiative to devote themselves to this cause.
Under the dual role of policy and publicity, an unprecedented high degree of consensus has been reached on the Loess Plateau. Many farmers spontaneously set up forest rangers, and once they found someone illegally felling trees and damaging the environment, they immediately reported the case to the public security organs.
Among them is a veteran Zhang Fugui. After being discharged from the army, he returned to his hometown of Weinan in northern Shaanxi, where he saw the deteriorating environment of his homeland and decided to devote himself to the cause of protecting his homeland.
He first joined the village ranger team, patrolling every day with other members to prevent people from cutting down trees. Later, he planted thousands of saplings on the barren mountain in front of his house at his own expense, and personally watered, fertilized, and removed insects, and took care of them carefully.
In this way, Zhang Fugui used his own practical actions to contribute to the greening of his hometown. And ordinary people like Zhang Fugui are everywhere on the Loess Plateau.
The ecological environment continues to improve
After long-term unremitting efforts, the ecological environment of the Loess Plateau has been greatly improved. As of 2020, the vegetation coverage has climbed to 67%, and the soil and water conservation rate has also increased to 66.94%.
What was once considered a hopeless land has now taken on a new look. The Yellow River is no longer the river with the highest sediment content in the world, and the hidden flooding hazards in the downstream areas have been effectively solved.
At the same time, the sources of income for peasants are also constantly expanding. In the past, it relied solely on agricultural planting, but now it has expanded to various channels such as non-farm employment, orchard management, and ecological compensation. Many impoverished areas have finally emerged from the gloom of poverty.
These achievements are inseparable from the vigorous support of the government and the active participation of the masses. Through unremitting efforts, the Loess Plateau has finally come out of the predicament of ecological deterioration and achieved comprehensive economic and social development.
epilogue
The successful experience of the management of the Loess Plateau has impressed the people of the world. This once again proves that the Chinese are making steady progress on the road of sustainable development.
Although this road is tortuous and arduous, as long as we adapt measures to local conditions and persevere, we will be able to finally achieve a double harvest of ecological environmental protection and economic development. Let's look forward to more such good news in the future.