鄂尔多斯国家森林城市
I. Honor from Ordos’ greening effort
In 2013, Ordos was awarded the title of "National Model City for Greening";
In 2015, Ordos was awarded the title of "National Forested City".
Such two heavyweight honors witnessed the green evolution of Ordos from yellow to green. "National Model City for Greening" and "National Forested City" as the highest honor for a city’s greening evaluation results can reflect the overall level of urban ecological construction. Ordos is a typical representative of arid and semi-arid regions in western China and one of the regions suffering from serious desertification and soil erosion in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and even China; however its winning of the two honors fully embodies the spirit of the Ordos people to challenge nature for greening.
II. The innovative greening mode shows the wisdom of Ordos
(I) Forestation in line with the natural law and environmental conditions
The order of nature and principle of water equilibrium were strictly abided by. Forested city construction was guided according to the construction idea of staying close to nature. Measures were tailored to suit local conditions, trees were planted according to the water environment, trees, shrubs and grass were planted and matched according to the environment, and enclosure and aerial seeding afforestation were combined. Vigorous efforts were made to create the native tree species resistance to drought, cold, salinity and barren. Scientific and reasonable planting density and seedling specification were determined based on the reality of Ordos. The concept of urban greening has been extended to the countryside, and the process of urban and rural greening has been constantly accelerated.
Great importance was attached to scenery creation in scattered corners and spaces, so as to improve the urban greening quality. Adhering to the "theme oriented, ecological and featured" principle, high standard of landscapes were created and parks, squares and green spaces were arranged scientifically in an organic combination of natural environment, humanistic history and ethnic characteristics. The green space system has been constantly improved, and a total of 205 parks and squares have been built. A total of 17 new street green spaces were created through renovation of the old city. All kinds of green spaces for parks were distributed uniformly, and the coverage rate of park service radius reached 76.6%, so that vegetation can be seen within 300 m and a park can be visited within 500 everywhere in the city. Great importance was attached to planting green trees in a line, so as to build green corridors. Greening was conducted in combination of the construction of an urban road network. Simultaneous planning, design and construction were performed for road construction and greening. Fast-growing, slow-growing, evergreen and deciduous trees were all planted in a well-organized manner to render a coordinated mix of varied plant colors and layers, and to achieve the goal of "one street presenting one scenery" and "each road showing a different style". In the end, such an effect was achieved that "green trees in a line grow along the road, neat and beautiful" and "flowers bloom in spring and summer, and different colors are presented in autumn and winter", and the greening rate of urban roads reached 82.52%. River renovation and protective greenbelt construction were strengthened. Forest was made along the river, and a water and green network was braided, with a waterfront afforestation rate of up to 81.4%. A number of riverbank vegetation projects such as Saitaiji Reservoir, Honghaizi Wetland and Ulan Mulun River were built, so that a forested city pattern of "water in the city, city in the park" has formed. Great importance was attached to making forests on the surface, so as to accelerate greening of key areas. Greening of key areas such as downtown, town surroundings, both inside and outside the park, riverbank, foreland of mountains, routes along roads, factories, mines and enterprises was comprehensively promoted, so as to create a green ecological barrier covering urban and rural areas and realize the goal that forests are moved into cities, villages and thousands of households.
(II) Scientific guidance and governance based on clear division of zones
According to the geomorphic types and natural conditions of the city, a tailored strategy was implemented to suit local conditions and classification. For Kubuqi Desert, a governance mode of "Enclose the South, Block the North and Cut off the Middle" was used: a forest and grass belt for biological lockrand was built on both south and north sides, so as to prevent the desert from expanding southward, northward and eastward; partition-based governance was conducted by virtue of the natural ten major tributaries and the construction of desert-crossing highways. For Mu Us Sandy Land, a governance mode of "Manor-based bio-economic circle" was used: enclosure and aerial seeding afforestation were adopted for comprehensive control and development, so that the manor-based bio-economic circle centered on farmland and pastureland protection. For arid areas, an afforestation mode of "two lines and one belt" was used, namely the governance mode of "narrow forest belt, wide grass belt, planting shrubs in lines, planting grass between belts and a combination of shrubs and grass". For hilly and gully areas, a governance mode of "locking grooves with Seabuckthorn, planting Caragana in the middle and pine and cypress on the top" was used. For the partition-based governance mode, forestry science and technology plays a powerful, supporting role. Research and promotion of forestry science and technology has made a breakthrough as a result of independent innovation. A series of technologies such as for drought-resistant forestation, aerial seeding afforestation, and desertification prevention and control have been widely applied to the production and construction.
III. Greening results of key areas in Ordos
Since 2013, Ordos has launched a greening program along roads, around villages, in factories, mines and industrial parks, surrounding towns and along rivers, and nationwide activities of voluntary tree planting have been carried out simultaneously. Up to now, a total of 3,076,500 mu of key areas have been greened.
IV. Electronic eyes turned green land into digital forestry
In 2009, aerial photography of 87 thousand square kilometers was completed in Ordos. The 1:10,000 orthophoto electronic map, 1:25,000 orthophoto paper map, three-dimensional roaming image map and six-layer digital elevation map containing topographic information were completed throughout Ordos with a space resolution of 0.4 m. A basic geographical space system was built for the "digital forestry" in Ordos. This digital platform comprehensively involves the management and monitoring over basic forest information, and over related planning, fire control, resources and pest. A digital forestry demonstration hall integrating exhibition, consultation, monitoring and decision-making was also set up.
The construction of forest and grassland fire remote monitoring system was launched in 2008. Up to now, a fire remote monitoring system including 1 municipal- and 6 banner-level fire monitoring command centers and 69 field monitoring points have been built, with a total monitored area of 217 thousand square kilometers and a monitored coverage rate of up to 89.1%. The key fire regions in forest have been largely covered.
After years of construction, a core platform of "digital forestry" has been successfully built in Ordos and it covers all core forestry businesses, such as forest and grassland fire remote monitoring, basic geographic information, desertification dynamic monitoring and forest resources management. A total of 14 core business systems and 1 general database of forestry basic information have been put into operation, making the forestry information construction of Ordos at the forefront of China. Ordos was included in the first batch of "Forestry Information Demonstration Cities of China" by the State Forestry Bureau.
V. An industry based on the extension of green wealth
Under the arid and semi-arid natural conditions, shrub resources account for 80% of the total area of forest resources in Ordos, so that the city is called as "the Land of Shrubs". The physiological characteristics of even stubble rejuvenation create unique conditions for development of the forested desert industry, so that Tsien Hsue-shen's theory of desert industry has been successfully practiced. "Playing Pipa behind the Back for Reverse Promotion" has become an innovative step in ecological construction of Ordos, which integrates the ecological construction and economic development, greens the desert and makes the people rich.
About 28.39 million mu of raw material forest base for forested desert industry were built in Ordos. Over 20 large-scale forested desert enterprises such as Tianjiao Resources Seabuckthorn Food, Plateau Almond Syrup and Mu Us Biomass Thermal Power Plant were founded, as well as more than 20 ecological tourist attractions including Mausoleum of Genghis Khan, Engebei, Resonant Sand Gorge and Seven-star Lake were created. In 2015, the gross output of the forested desert industry reached RMB 4.5 billion in Ordos, and the per capita income of farmers and herdsmen from the forested desert industry was up to RMB 2600.
A total of 27 farmers and herdsmen forestry cooperatives were set up in Ordos, including 1,910 members and covering a forestland area of 280,000 mu. Among them, 5 specialized cooperatives were rated as the autonomous region-level specialized demonstration cooperatives; Uxin Banner Boran Ciangheyuan Apiculture Cooperative was named the National Farmers' Cooperatives Demonstration Agency by the Ministry of Agriculture. Over 6 million mu of collective forestland was cultivated for the development of under-forest economy during the "12th Five-Year Period", involving 52 thousand households (times) of farmers and herdsmen and achieving a total output of RMB 2.02 billion. Ordos Engebei Desert Ecological Tourism Cultural Co., Ltd. was rated as a national under-forest economy demonstration base by the State Forestry Bureau.
VI. Figures in desertification control
There were many role models of afforestation from 1950 to 60s, including: Gu Qixiang in Uxin Banner, Baoriledai (female), Ni Tuogao in Ejin Horo Banner, Ma Shitong and Xu Zhimin in Dalad Banner and Su Bayin, Liu Maotong and Chen Guanzhu in Jungar Banner, etc.
The household contract responsibility system was implemented from the 1970s to 1980s, and the new mode required that "individuals, collective, and the nation should make concerted efforts in afforestation, with individual afforestation as the mainstay"; "farmers should own what they create and share benefits together for a long time with inheritance allowed" and the local government should "allocate 'the Five Barrens, namely uncultivated hills, slopes, seashores, shoals and waters’ to households, and separate two rights for grassland and pastureland" among farmers. Thanks to this system, there was a gratifying situation in which farmers and herdsmen competed for sand areas and contracted for sand control. A number of sand control heroes emerged and they were represented by: Sha Muteng in Otog Banner and Mi Qiwang in Otog Front Banner as well as national forestry model worker Wang Yushan who made great contribution to sand afforestation.
In the 1990s, another strategy was jointly proposed by Ih Ju League Commission and Prefectural Administrative Office that called upon "promoting linkage, increasing income and efficiency, tailoring measures to suit local conditions, providing guidance on a categorized basis, implementing policy by zone and pushing the work progress step by step" and "taking a reverse step to promote development in another direction". As a result, some well-performing individuals including Wang Guoxiang and Cao Zhawa emerged, and the first Salix Particleboard Plant in Ordos quietly rose in Bojianghai Town, Dongsheng District.
In the new century, Ordos has abided by the mechanism of "guidance under the local government, driven by national and local key projects and participation of the whole society" and encouraged all social sectors to actively participate in prevention and control of desertification. There have been more than 200 households who have planted trees for over 5,000 mu as well as over 20 enterprises that participated in afforestation. In addition, there are a number of advanced individuals represented by Yin Yuzhen, Wurigeng Dalai, Sheng Wanzhong, Wuyunsiqing, Wang Zhongqiang, Liu Zhiyong and Zi Deqing in prevention and control of desertification as well as many typical sand control enterprises including Dongda, Elion, Yitai, Mu Us Biomass Thermoelectric Plant and Lvyuan. Sand control by enterprises has become a powerful force against sand desertification in Ordos.
