The vegetation is growing and mountains are in sight as spring comes. It's a good time to plants trees in March for China annually.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping insists on planting trees with all walks of life from Beijing every spring.
General Secretary Xi Jinping has always cared about the cause of land greening and led the promotion and construction of ecological civilization while taking the lead in planting trees, emphasizing the strengthening of ecological protection and adhering to the green development. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping's thought on ecological civilization, the whole party and the whole people are all striving for the beautiful dream of building a green home.
Green Hope-- Standing at the height of the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, General Secretary Xi Jinping incorporates the construction of ecological civilization into the overall layout of five objectives in one(hereafter referred as), which means to promote balanced economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological progress, to therefore guide the protection of forest and grass resources.
Spring is coming along Yongding River. The white-skinned pine planted by General Secretary Xi Jinping ten years ago are in full bloom now.
Haidian District, Chaoyang District, Daxing District, Tongzhou District… There are many tree planting sites in Beijing where the trees planted by General Secretary Xi Jinping have grown vigorously.
"Planting and afforestation is not only to plant green saplings, but also to construct the bright future of the motherland." General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out.
General Secretary Xi Jinping has always attached great importance to the ecological protection. "We should put ecological protection in a more prominent position, protect the ecological environment like protecting our eyes, and treat the ecological environment like our lives." Taking eyes and life as the metaphors, it demonstrates the General Secretary's profound understanding for correctly dealing the relationship between the economic development and the protection of ecological environmental in the new era.
On March 1st , volunteers were planting trees in Bishan District, Chongqing. [Photoed by Reporter Wang Quanchao from Xinhua News Agency]
Taking the pulse of the relationship between ecology and civilization, General Secretary Xi Jinping's deeply thought --
For a long time, especially since the Industrial Revolution, human beings have carried out unprecedented transformations on nature. Consequently, along with the rapid development of productivity, the natural ecosystem has also undergone tremendous changes, including disappearing forest, degraded wetlands, soil erosion, droughts and water shortages, frequent floods, global warming and other serious ecological crisis.
China is one of the countries with the most serious land ecological security problems in the world, such as soil erosion, land desertification, rocky desertification and salinization. It's shown from the monitoring that in 2009, the area of land desertification in China accounts for 18.03% of the national land area; the area of soil erosion accounts for 30% of the national land area.
General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly points out: ecological prosperity leads to the prosperity of civilization, and also ecological decline leads to the decline of civilization.
Green is the basic color of a beautiful China in the mind of General Secretary Xi Jinping. Coming from the Loess Plateau, he has a deep memory for the harm of soil erosion. During his work in Fujian Province, he had visited Changting County for five times to promote the control of soil erosion. He once sadly said that the Hexi Corridor and the Loess Plateau used to be rich in water and grass, but the ecological environment was severely damaged and economic decline was exacerbated due to deforestation and indiscriminate logging.
"Our country is still a ecologically fragile country with a lack of forests and greenery, which still faces a long way to planting trees and improve the ecology", General Secretary Xi Jinping's said in the voluntary tree planting activities in Beijing in 2013, and this profoundly judgment affects the practice of ecological civilization in our country.
Forest is the main body of terrestrial ecology and the foundation of human existence.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that we must consider this issue from the perspective of the historical development of the Chinese nation, leave a beautiful home for future generations, and a positive record for contemporary Chinese people by the pen of history."
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has regarded the construction of ecological civilization as an important part of promoting the overall layout of the five objectives in one and the strategic layout of the four comprehensives, which means to comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society, comprehensively deepen reform, comprehensively implement the rule of law and comprehensively strengthen Party discipline. Land greening, as an important part of ecological civilization, should be highly valued.
Every time he participates in the voluntary tree planting, General Secretary Xi Jinping all earnestly entrusts the cause of land greening:
"The predecessors plant the trees, and the later generations enjoy the shade. Our generation needs to benefit future generations with our own efforts ";
"We must insist on nationwide mobilization, planting trees and afforestation by all people, and strive to turn the building of a beautiful China into people's conscious actions";
"It is necessary to innovate the responsible form of voluntary tree planting, so that the people can easily participate in the greening of the land and provide the people with more high-quality ecological products, and let the people share the achievements of ecological civilization construction"…
Under the leadership of General Secretary Xi Jinping, hundreds of millions of people have been unswerving in the pace of planting trees.
This is the scenery of the mechanical forest farm in Saihanba, Hebei Province (taken on August 22nd , 2021, UAV photo). [Photoed by Reporter Jin Haoyuan from Xinhua News Agency]
Saihanba, the green pearl in northern Hebei Province, used to be a vast wasteland where birds did not live and the yellow sand covered the sky half a century ago. The three generations of Saihanba forest farmers have insisted on planting trees for many years, watering millions of mu of artificial forest with sweat, which has played an important role in windbreak and sand fixation and water conservation for the region of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei .
In August 2017, General Secretary Xi Jinping made important instructions on the touching deeds of the builders of the Saihanba Forest Farm in Hebei Province, and praised the builders of the forest farm for their efforts in creating the miracle of the wasteland turning into the forest sea, and using practical actions to explain that green water and green mountains are invaluable assets, which forges the Saihanba spirit: keeping the mission in mind, hard work, and green development.
Four years later, General Secretary Xi came to Yueliang Mountain in Saihanba mechanical forest farm, and went deep into the green and boundless forest to visit the forest rangers. "We built this forest, and its role as an ecological barrier must be played forever," He said that.
This is the Qixing Lake Scenic Area of Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm in Hebei Province (taken on August 22nd , 2021, UAV photo). [Photoed by Reporter Mou Yu from Xinhua News Agency]
Along More than 1,700 kilometers to the west from Saihanba and at the foot of Qilian Mountain, the story of three generations of people from the Babu Sand Forest Farm, represented by six old men ,continues sand control and is still going on today.
In August 2019, along the bumpy gravel road, General Secretary Xi Jinping came to Babu Sand Forest Farm for investigation .
Several forest farm workers were carrying out the operation of grass grid pressing sand . General Secretary Xi Jinping walked over and asked them about the operation method. He picked up a furrowing plow and worked with them. After a while, he made a hole in the sand, a straight ditch more than two meters long.
"We must continue to carry forward the contemporary Yugong spirit of the six old men, carry forward their enterprising spirit of not bowing their heads in the face of difficulties and daring to turn the desert into an oasis, make persistent efforts, make new contributions, and make long-term contributions to make the green great wall indestructible." General Secretary Xi Jinping Said.
At the sand control site in Hanmagang, the northern sandy area of Gulang County, Gansu Province, the Babu Sand Forest Farm sand controller and the masses tie grass and check the sand together (taken on March 6th , 2020, UAV photo). [Photoed by Reporter Fan Peishen from Xinhua News Agency]
Deep understanding of the laws of nature is an inevitable requirement for greening.
In the view of General Secretary Xi Jinping, ecology is a unified natural system, an organic chain that is interdependent and closely linked. In November 2013, he firstly proposed the concept of landscapes, forests, fields and lakes are a community of life, and then later integrated grass in it.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes that use control and ecological restoration must follow the laws of nature.
Grassland is an important terrestrial ecosystem in my country. 80% of the water volume of the Yellow River and 30% of the water volume of the Yangtze River come from grassland areas. For a long time, we demands more and invest less for the grassland , and the phenomenon of overloading and overgrazing are prominent. Coupled with factors such as climate change, most grasslands in our country have been degrading to varying degrees.
This is Dangqu of the Southern Source of the Yangtze River taken on July 23rd , 2021 (UAV photo). [Photoed by Reporter Zhang Long from Xinhua News Agency]
In 2018, the party and state institutions were reformed to form the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
In March 2021, the General Office of the State Council issued Several Opinions on Strengthening Grassland Protection and Restoration to promote grassland ecological restoration.
Through unremitting efforts, the continuous deterioration of grassland ecology has been initially curbed in China. At the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan, the overall vegetation coverage of grasslands reached 56.1%.
"The word 'sand' must be integrate into the coordinated management of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grass and sand systems." General Secretary Xi Jinping points out when participating in the consideration of the Inner Mongolia delegation during the National Two Sessions in 2021 （National People's Congress and the Chinese Political Consultative Conference）。
The scientific concept with continuous deepening and expansion has become an important guide for land greening and ecological civilization construction in the new era.
The power of green - with people-centered development concept, General Secretary Xi Jinping leads the construction of ecological security barriers, and makes the good ecological environment to become a growth point for people's quality of life.
With the warm sun in the spring, at the Yani Wetland, where the Yarlung Zangbo River and the Niyang River cross, the water is turbulent, and black-necked cranes and bar-headed geese are chirping and flying over from time to time.
Going back to July 2021--
On the Niyang River Bridge, overlooking the Yanni Wetland with rippling water and lush vegetation, General Secretary Xi Jinping urged that ,"We must adhere to the priority of protection, adhere to the integrated protection and systematic management of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grass, sand and ice and protect the living creatures here as well as waters and Mountains".
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, known as the third pole of the earth and Asia's water tower, is an important ecological security barrier in China and even Asia. General Secretary Xi Jinping's requirements for ecological protection of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are clear and specific, which emphasizes that the party's strategy for governing Tibet in the new era must adhere to ecological protection firstly.
Today, about 80% of Tibet's land area is prohibited and restricted development areas. Farmers and herdsmen have become field guards, forest guards, and wetland guards, becoming the ecological guardians of the snow-covered plateau. The ecology of the snow-covered plateau is improving year by year.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has adhered to the people-centered development philosophy, scientifically arranged production space, living space, and ecological space, and solidly promoted ecological environmental protection, making the good ecological environment become a growth point for people's quality of life and leading billions of people to a magnificent green journey.
Source: <http://www.planning.org.cn/news/view?id=12416&cid=12>
Translated by Wang Yue
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