County once tormented by desertification builds "green miracle" in NE China's Liaoning

Standing at a 30-meter-high platform in Yulin village, Haizhouwobao township, Kangping county, Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, one enjoys a wonderful view of lush pine forests spanning over 10,000 mu (666.67 hectares).

To the north of these pine forests lies Horqin Sandy Land, one of China's largest sandy areas. "The forests defend our county against the intruding Horqin Sandy Land on the north," said Wang Xiyan, director of the afforestation and operation management office of the natural resource bureau of Kangping county.

Photo shows lush pine forests spanning over 10,000 mu (666.67 hectares) in Kangping county, Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province. (Photo courtesy of the media convergence center of Kangping county)

The official added that desertified land once accounted for over 70 percent of the total land area of the county, located on the southern edge of the Horqin Sandy Land.

In the 1960s, officials and members of the public in Kangping began committing themselves to afforestation and desertification control.

The area of desertified land in the county has declined from 2.4 million mu in the early days of New China to 680,000 mu today, while the forest coverage has been lifted from only 1.4 percent to 24.1 percent. The county has realized a historic transformation from "sand forcing humans to retreat" to "trees forcing sand to retreat."

After graduating from university in 1959, Zhang Qingshan, a native of Haizhouwobao township, decided to return to his hometown to devote himself to afforestation and desertification control.

When the township began an afforestation campaign to fix sand in the spring of 1965, Zhang led local people to plant trees on sandy land. The forestry engineer would go on to devote 24 years to this cause.

After over half a century of efforts, the township has planted over 10,000 mu of pine forests, building a green belt that defends it against the sand.

Since 2012, Kangping county has planted more than 180,000 mu of trees by steadily advancing a forestry ecological project, a new project that involves planting 10,000-plus mu of pines, and other projects, explained Wang Tieli, Party chief of the county.

In addition, many forest rangers have contributed to the protection of artificial forests. Sun Hongshan, 55, has spent over 30 years patrolling the pine forests, while Li Hai and his son Li Hongwei have devoted more than 10 years to the protection of trees under the new project of planting 10,000-plus mu of pines.

"After generations of effort, our county's total forest reserves have reached 783,000 mu," Wang Xiyan said, adding that the county will plant another 80,000 mu of trees by 2025, at which time the forest coverage rate will reach 29.3 percent.

"In recent years, we carried out holistic conservation and systematic governance of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands and deserts, implemented the project for enhancing water system connectivity and improving water environment in rural areas, and built a comprehensive protection system for ecological security," Wang Tieli said.

This has provided a strong guarantee for consolidating and making further progress in desertification control and significantly improved the ecological environment, the official added.

By relying on ecological resources, Kangping county has developed green industries, embarking on a development path to prosperity that is characterized by a sound ecology.

Thanks to the artificial forests, the per-mu yield of peanuts in Haizhouwobao township increased to over 250 kilograms from 100 to 150 kilograms.

"A peanut variety can be sold at over 40 yuan ($5.56) per kilogram," said Ji Xiuli, head of a peanut cooperative in Haizhouwobao village of the township, noting that the output value of the cooperative is expected to reach 5 million yuan this year.

Li Xingtian, Party chief of the township, said the township has vigorously developed the peanut industry, turning the disadvantages of having sandy land into advantages. So far, the township's peanut planting area has remained steady at over 80,000 mu, with its annual peanut output reaching about 25,000 tonnes and its peanut output value hitting 200 million yuan.