Zhanjiang Mangrove National Nature Reserve, Guangdong. Photo by Nanfang Daily reporter Xiao Xiong and correspondent Lin Yin
"Every sapling represents hope and is also a testimony of our 'retirement without fading'. After leading dozens of retired soldiers to plant "veteran forests" and "glorious forests", Deng Liming, head of the veterans service station in Zijin Huangtang Town, Heyuan, said. Adding greenery and beauty to their hometown, the faces of each veteran are filled with satisfaction and pride.
In April 2023, when General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Guangdong, he emphasized that it is necessary to adhere to green development, work from generation to generation, and make long-term contributions to building a beautiful China and making China's contribution to the protection of the global village. In the past year, Guangdong has carried out in-depth ecological construction of green and beautiful Guangdong, completed the optimization and improvement of forest stands by 2.309 million mu, forest tending and improvement by 2.151 million mu, and the "six major actions" of precise improvement of forest quality have been steadily promoted.
From the coast of the South China Sea to the depths of the Nanling Mountains, the upsurge of the whole people participating in the ecological construction of green and beautiful Guangdong is constantly rising, not only to "green up", but also to "beautify", but also to "get rich" has become more and more the consensus of the whole province.
The whole people set off a "green" upsurge
"In the past, trees were planted for felling, but now trees are planted for ecology. The green mountains are always there, which is to benefit future generations. Yan Runsheng, a veteran comrade who personally experienced the "Yueshan Afforestation Battle," said with emotion.
In the 70s of the 20th century, the "Yueshan Afforestation Campaign" opened the prelude to large-scale afforestation in Guangdong. This year, Zhaoqing City has carried out actions such as precise improvement of forest quality in Huaiji Lanzhong Town, where the "Yueshan Afforestation Campaign" is located, and the previously degraded pine and fir trees have been gradually replaced with native tree species with Lingnan characteristics, giving the mountain a new look and further improving its functions such as carbon sequestration and water retention.
To expand greenery is to scientifically promote large-scale land greening, to plant trees in the right place, to adapt the law at the right time, to plant one tree to live, and to build one piece into another. Since last year, Guangdong has proposed to implement the ecological construction of green and beautiful Guangdong, and carry out "six major actions" such as precise improvement of forest quality, and plans to complete the optimization and improvement of forest stands by 10 million mu and forest tending by 10 million mu by the end of 2027.
According to the 2023 Guangdong Provincial Land Greening Bulletin, in 2023, the province will complete the optimization and improvement of forest stands by 2.309 million mu and the forest tending improvement by 2.151 million mu. In 2024, thanks to the favorable conditions such as the province's early reserve of 180 million mu of seedlings, this year's mountain afforestation task is progressing smoothly, and as of late March, the province has completed the optimization and improvement of 521,300 mu of forest stands with high standards.
Patches of green have taken root in the land of Lingnan, and a little bit of "green beauty" blooms in people's hearts. In the past year, the province's rural greening has been blowing strongly, and the enthusiasm of the whole people to participate in tree planting has been high. In the first quarter of this year, Guangdong carried out more than 8,000 voluntary tree planting fields, which has exceeded that of last year, and the province planted more than 9.2 million rural green seedlings, more than four times that of last year.
The main theme of "I plant a tree for Guangdong" is getting louder and louder, and the channels for participating in the ecological construction of Lumei Guangdong are becoming more and more abundant. Since the beginning of this year, party members have taken the lead, township sages have pledged, and "Internet + voluntary tree planting" has been continuously upgraded and upgraded, and more than 370 million yuan of social funds have been raised in the first quarter. In the next step, the province will carry out fundraising activities around 83,760 ancient trees to continue to polish the ecological background of Guangdong's modernization.
"Xinglu" quality and efficiency are emerging
This year, the trend of planting kidney-benefiting seeds is becoming more and more popular in Qingyuan, not only the seedlings of Fogang, the traditional planting area, are in demand, but also the neighboring Lianzhang Village, Lianjiangkou Town, Yingde, has also expanded to plant a lot of kidney-benefiting seeds. This tree grows well under eucalyptus forests, and the nuts produced are the raw material for Hakka winemaking.
"According to the market price, the fruits shaken at the end of this year can be sold for about one yuan each, becoming a veritable 'cash cow'!" said Huang Juntian, a planting leader.
Kidney-benefiting, agarwood, plum slices...... In recent years, the treasures of the past have come out of the mountains, not only making Guangdong "green and beautiful", but also giving a strong grasp to the implementation of the "Millions of Projects" in various places. From Maoming's "five trees, one table, one dish and one fish" to Qingyuan's cultivation of five 10-billion-yuan agricultural industries, forestry industries such as fruit trees, bamboo, tea, and camellia have played an important role in industrial planning, and a number of 10-billion-level industrial clusters are about to emerge.
The quality and efficiency of "rejuvenating green" are emerging, and the role of forests in "reservoirs, money banks, grain depots, and carbon pools" is better linked, and Guangdong further expands the path of transforming lucid waters and lush mountains into gold and silver mountains, so as to realize the unity of ecological, economic and social benefits.
This year, Guangdong's financial funds at or above the provincial level will exceed 3.1 billion yuan, a record high. The average compensation standard for public welfare forests above the provincial level has been increased to 47 yuan/mu, and the compensation standard has been increased for 17 consecutive years.
Combined with the requirements of in-depth promotion of the ecological construction of green and beautiful Guangdong, Guangdong has innovatively implemented a new incentive and compensation mechanism for public welfare forests this year, giving an incentive of 4 yuan/mu to areas with high forest quality and good forest appearance, so as to further mobilize the enthusiasm of the whole society to protect and build high-quality and efficient public welfare forests.
Emerging businesses such as forest tourism and forest health care are in the ascendant. Last year, the province assessed 35 provincial-level forest towns, built 104 forest villages, 54 green and beautiful ancient tree villages, and 56 green and red villages, and the number of forest families in Nanyue increased to 129. The relevant person in charge of the Provincial Forestry Bureau said that the next step will be to explore the integrated development of forest tourism and health care, exploration, sightseeing, research and research, and constantly enrich the forest tourism industry.
Relay "green protection" and protect the results
At present, Guangdong's forest coverage rate is 53.03%, and a number of key indicators rank among the top in the country, making it one of the most "green" provinces in the country. Abundant forest resources need to be effectively managed and protected, and since the development of the ecological construction of Lumei Guangdong, the relevant work has achieved remarkable results: the comprehensive completion of the accurate implementation of the occurrence and control of pine wood nematode disease and Spartina alterniflora, the completion of the three-year survey of invasive alien species in the forest and grassland wetland ecosystem, and the initial establishment of a county-based specimen bank and database......
Thanks to this, the five-year medium-term timing task of pine wood nematode disease has been overcompleted, and the progress of 21 cities in the province has exceeded 50%, the county-level epidemic area, town-level epidemic points, the occurrence area, and the number of diseased and dead trees of pine wood nematode disease have achieved "four declines", Maoming has achieved the eradication of pine wood nematode disease in the epidemic area of the whole city, and forestry pests such as Mikania and Spartina alterniflora have been continuously controlled.
Shaoguan City, Huizhou City, and Qingyuan City have closely coordinated disaster management and ecological restoration, and reduced the area of pine wood nematode disease by about 20% in the city; Mikania in Shenzhen, Dongguan and other cities has achieved no "grass" disaster; and red fire ants in woodlands throughout the province have been effectively controlled.
To protect greenery, we must not only strengthen the protection of forest and grass resources, do a good job in fire prevention and extinguishing, and carry out in-depth investigation and rectification of major hidden dangers, but also need continuous efforts from generation to generation to protect the hard-won greening achievements. Over the past year, the province has carried out talent training through various ways such as cultivating "green beauty craftsmen" to cultivate reserve forces for the protection of lucid waters and lush mountains.
At the beginning of this year, the teachers and students of Guangdong Ecological Engineering Vocational College spent a fulfilling winter vacation. During this period, 1,000 teachers and students signed up to participate in the social practice activities of ecological construction in Lvmei Guangdong, and the number of trainees reached 2,000. "It not only cultivates students' solid professional knowledge and operational skills, but also cultivates students' enthusiasm for devoting themselves to the cause of Lumei Guangdong, as well as good professional ethics and craftsmanship spirit of excellence. Zhan Guoqiang, dean of the school's School of Landscape Architecture, said.
First-line cases
Zhanjiang practice of mangrove conservation
In Zhanjiang in April, the sky is clear, the sea is blue, and the mangrove forests are full of life. Zhanjiang has an area of 6,521.85 hectares of mangrove forests, making it the prefecture-level city with the widest mangrove area in our province. How to promote mangrove protection according to local conditions? Zhanjiang has explored a set of effective models.
In the Zhanjiang Mangrove National Nature Reserve, Jinniu Island is breezy and verdant. Over the past year, in addition to strengthening the front-line patrol force and carrying out daily patrols, the reserve has introduced a series of intelligent supervision technologies such as GIS + UAV + high-resolution satellite imagery, and the number of aerial photography of UAVs has increased from 1 to 4 times per year.
Zhanjiang adheres to the steady promotion of mangrove construction and restoration, strives to build two "10,000-mu mangrove demonstration areas" in Leizhou and Xuwen, takes the lead in the development and utilization of blue carbon projects, establishes the first mangrove protection research center in western Guangdong, and actively explores the coupling model of mangrove planting and breeding. Since 2023, Zhanjiang has completed 747 hectares of mangrove afforestation and 510 hectares of mangrove restoration.
Looking at the whole province, Guangdong has a total area of 11,000 hectares of mangrove land, which is the province with the largest distribution area of mangrove forests in mainland China, with a total of 18 families, 24 genera and 27 species of mangrove plants, which is one of the most abundant mangrove species. Promoting the protection of mangrove forests is an important undertaking jointly promoted by the whole province.
With the introduction of policies and regulations such as the Special Action Plan for Mangrove Protection and Restoration (2020-2025), the province has completed the construction of 2,509 hectares of mangrove forests and restored 2,476 hectares of existing mangrove forests. This year, the province plans to create 2,600 hectares of mangrove forests and restore 1,200 hectares.
At the same time, Guangdong stipulates that on the basis of the national reward of 0.4 mu of construction land for planting 1 mu of mangrove forest, 0.1 mu of new annual construction land incentive index will be awarded, and in the annual land use plan, 50% of the annual task area of mangrove afforestation will be reserved for national and provincial mangrove afforestation to reward new construction land plan indicators, forming an "index pool", which will be cashed out in advance after the completion of the project, which has greatly mobilized the enthusiasm of local protection and restoration.
"When carrying out mangrove planting and protection, we fully consider the two aspects of suitable natural conditions and socio-economic suitability, and maintain the diversity, integrity and stability of mangrove ecosystems. The relevant person in charge of the Provincial Forestry Bureau said that the next step will be to focus on the ecological protection red line, nature reserves to carry out mangrove construction, relying on Shenzhen International Mangrove Center and Zhanjiang Mangrove City and other platforms and resource advantages, and actively build a 10,000-mu mangrove demonstration area, establish a Pearl River Delta - eastern and western Guangdong mangrove off-site restoration cooperation mechanism, and help the ecological construction of Lumei Guangdong to make greater progress.
Nanfang Daily reporter Shao Yihong correspondent Lin Yin