Reforestation restoring lushness to barren hills
Source: Xinhua |
November 19, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
NIU Hentai remembers the Loess Plateau as dismal, dusty and dry seven years ago.
"There were barren hills, but see how it is flourishing now!" Niu said of the hills now dotted with plants and the land to the west checkered with brown poplars and lush forest after a municipal reforestation program.
Born in Dacaoping Village, Shanxi Province, Niu left his hometown to run a transportation business in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region because the land was good for nothing but grazing in his hometown, which is located at an altitude of 2,100 meters and was once home to a record 10,000 sheep.
But overgrazing and deforestation stripped away vegetation, allowing the desert to encroach upon the Loess Highlands, where Dacaoping Village is located.
"Overnight, people could not open their doors because of the sand outside," Niu recalled.
Niu chose to return home to plant trees in 2005, hoping to help restore the damaged environment that was jeopardizing grazing and to take advantage of many measures issued by the local government.
In 2003 in Shuozhou, a coal-rich city in which Dacaoping Village is located, the municipal government started encouraging villagers like Niu to contract land free of charge for five years and plant trees on barren hills.
Niu, 52, signed a contract for 800 hectares, but drought prevailed early on. Now, after seven years, Niu has planted over 1.2 million trees.
"I find relaxation just by looking at the lush forest," Niu said, adding that his fledgling forest will be fully grown in two or three years.
"There were barren hills, but see how it is flourishing now!" Niu said of the hills now dotted with plants and the land to the west checkered with brown poplars and lush forest after a municipal reforestation program.
Born in Dacaoping Village, Shanxi Province, Niu left his hometown to run a transportation business in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region because the land was good for nothing but grazing in his hometown, which is located at an altitude of 2,100 meters and was once home to a record 10,000 sheep.
But overgrazing and deforestation stripped away vegetation, allowing the desert to encroach upon the Loess Highlands, where Dacaoping Village is located.
"Overnight, people could not open their doors because of the sand outside," Niu recalled.
Niu chose to return home to plant trees in 2005, hoping to help restore the damaged environment that was jeopardizing grazing and to take advantage of many measures issued by the local government.
In 2003 in Shuozhou, a coal-rich city in which Dacaoping Village is located, the municipal government started encouraging villagers like Niu to contract land free of charge for five years and plant trees on barren hills.
Niu, 52, signed a contract for 800 hectares, but drought prevailed early on. Now, after seven years, Niu has planted over 1.2 million trees.
"I find relaxation just by looking at the lush forest," Niu said, adding that his fledgling forest will be fully grown in two or three years.
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