It is the red leaf season, the colorful scenery of the Western Hill once again amazed tourists.
Western Hill has broken through the bottleneck of afforestation in the lithoid mountainous areas in North China and become a model of scientific afforestation. In recent years, the forest farm has continued to carry out forest health management, adding more vitality into the lush forest, and becoming a test field for nature education and low-carbon environmental protection concepts.
The struggle of generations of foresters has created the "Saihanba" in Beijing.
The first scientific afforestation exploration was carried out. Looking up at the foot of the Western Hill, the mountains are covered with forest. If there’s no people and traffic around, you might mistakenly think that this is a wild mountain in the outer suburbs. In fact, it's only a few kilometers from the West Fifth Ring Road.
"Western Hill Forest Farm across Haidian, Shijingshan, Mentougou three districts, made a circle that is more than 200 kilometers. This forest has been maintained by generations of forest workers who have fought for years." Yan Haiping was the chief engineer of the Western HillForest Farm and had visited every mountain in the area. Although he has retired for many years, he is still a member of the Beijing Mountain Forest Management expert group. He greeting the reporterwarmly: "Let's go up the mountain to see!" Walking up the winding mountain road, the wind blows from the forest, and the birds sing. Although it is a workday, a lot of people come here, not less than the visitors in parks in the fifth Ring road.
The lush mountains in front of Yan Haiping evoke the memories of more than 30 years ago. In 1989, he came to work in Western Hill, when the Western Hill Forest Farm was well-known in the whole country. The young Yan Haiping heard many stories of afforestation in the Western Hill from his colleagues. The soil layer in the Western Hill is thin, with low rainfall, it’s difficult for newly planted trees to survive. Before and after the founding of New China, the forest coverage rate of 126,000 mu of Western Hill was only 4.7%, and the mountains are mostly covered by sour jujube and thorny. The bare mountain cannot keep the rain, after the heavy rain, the south dry river and north dry river at the foot of the mountainalways flowing muddy water. In 1953, Zhu De inspected the Western Hill and made important instructions for greening. The following year, the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and Government made a three-year green Western Hill decision.
Beijing's spring is very dry, forestry experts and forest farm workers creatively engaged in the rainy season afforestation, but also the original horizontal strip preparation technology. The soil of each sapling root is wrapped with cloth, a bag of soil has more than 20 pounds of weight, before dawn, the workers pick the saplings and pickaxes and start up to the mountain, It’s common thatboth hands grinding bubble, tiger mouth crack. Sometimes a pickaxe can dig down to the stones, then they have to take the soil to fill the pit. It’stime-consuming and laborious. "The hardship of the afforestation army is unimaginable." Yan Haiping said. "Saihanba is a national model of afforestation, and the Western Hill is the 'Saihanba' of Beijing. The spiritual core of forest farm workers is also consistent."
What is more valuable is that Western Hill afforestation adopts an extremely scientific and advanced concept - "suitable for the land and the tree at the same time". Specifically, the barren mountains are divided into small patches, and the appropriate tree species are selected according to the climate, soil, and terrain conditions. In addition, the participation of the whole society in voluntary tree planting has also accelerated the speed of greening of Western Hill.
Forestry people plantthese trees on themountainwith wisdom and sweat. In 1958, about 70% of the area of the Western Hill turned green, no longer a waste mountain. The Western Hill experience has been promoted throughout the whole country and cultivated talents for forest farms around the country. Shen Guofang, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and former president of Beijing Forestry University, also regards Western Hill as "a model of afforestation in lithoid mountainous areas in North China".
The hard afforestation is over, but the story of the forest farm has only just begun. In 1962, the Western Hill Afforestation Office, which was originally responsible for afforestation, was renamed the Western Hill Experimental Forest Farm (Western Hill Forest Farm for short). The word "experiment" indicates the mission entrusted to it by the capital landscaping system: to make valuable exploration in the practice of the new concept of greening.
After the 18th National Congress of the CPC, Xi Jinping Thought on Eco-Civilization has been fully implemented in Beijing. Western Hill Forest Farm has implemented the new development concept again and again, and has demonstrated in the aspects of forest health management and "farm and garden integration".
Let the forest "come alive"
Walking about half an hour, Yan Haiping took the reporter to a forest health management demonstration area halfway up the mountain. The forest is beautiful, rich in diversity and exuberant wildness: tall pine trees almost blot out the sun, white wax and Chinese pistacia trees cover the tree trunks with climbing plants. The ground is covered with leonurus, twigs and other shrubs.Indian strawberryhas produced bright red berries.
Just three years ago, this was only a pine forest. After close to nature management, it has this vibrant look.
Forest close to nature operation is a forest management method that follows the laws of nature, adopts measures such as adjusting stand structure, pest management, and biodiversity protection to make the planted forest closer to the natural state.
How are planted forests worse than natural forests? He Baohua, director of the resource protection section of Western Hill Forest Farm, had the answer: Natural forests are more ecological, more economical and more beautiful. A good forest ecosystem is definitely not a forest of single species, there must be several kinds of trees, but also shrubs, animals, insects and microorganisms, so as to form a stable structure, not susceptible to disease.
At the beginning of the Western Hill greening work, it is the first goal to make the mountain green as soon as possible, so the trees been plant are mostly fast-growing evergreen trees, which account for 39%, pine and robinia respectively account for 20%. Therefore, it is important to close to do close to nature management in the future.
As one of the first batch units in China, Western Hill has summarized a management principle of "close to nature, multi-functional, full cycle, full elements, and sustainable". In the past ten years, the whole forest farm has completed three times of forest structure adjustment.
Some trees have been thinned and replanted to create some ‘windows’ in forest. The space under the forest is more comfortable and transparent, the sunlight can cast down, and the young trees have more room to grow. Some young shade-tolerant tree species, such as Yuanbao maple and cork oak, will also be planted in the forest windows. Robinia trees are tall and large, and are used in the early greening. It has been proved that this kind of trees with a lot of water storage is not suitable for water-poor mountains, and will be degraded and dry. In recent years, the proportion of black locust has been greatly reduced.
Today, the forest density in the Western Hill has dropped from 300 to less than 150 trees per mu. This is still not enough, and a more reasonable figure is only 50 to 60 trees - which means that adjusting the stand will always be an important job in the Western Hill Forest Farm for a long time.
Attitudes towards the bush have also changed. Ten years ago, He Baohua first came to the forest farm, cleaning and cutting irrigation are very important work content. "The idea was that a neat forest was beautiful." He said that "cutting irrigation" is no longer mentioned, as long as it has no impact on fire prevention, let the bush grow freely. Naturally broken rotten wood does not need to be removed, and is itself a breeding ground for saprovorous animals and fungi.
Today, trees are growing more and more robust, and ecological benefits are more fully played. Yan Haiping explained a detail: After the heavy rain, there was no muddy water rushing down the mountain, and the clear water would drip for a week. Replanted broad-leaved trees litter more, dead leaves and shrubs gradually into black humus, the deepest has been close to 10 cm.
As the ecosystem improved, many wild animals returned to the Western Hill. According to statistics, a total of 173 species of animals have been recorded in the Western Hill Forest farm, and what is more gratifying is the appearance of the top predator - the ocelot, which means that the area has formed a complete ecosystem. There are also large birds of prey, such as the white eagle and the prairie eagle.
In order to let small animals freely drinking water and bathing, Western Hill set up small DAMS in the gully area to trap rainwater, and also built a number of small micro-wetlands.
"Farm and garden integration" to carry out forest tour
Surrounded by mountains on three sides, the city is full of charming autumn scenery, and the Western Hill is the most favored place to enjoy the autumn. In mid-October, the Western Hill National Forest Park issued a red tour route, which was clearly written where it could be viewed up close and where it was suitable for overlooking.
Every autumn, Mr. Zhang has to climb the Western Hill with his family, but this year, he found that the Western Hill has more surprising changes. "As in previous years, we carried thermos cups up the mountain, and packed a lot of fruit and bread." He told reporters, did not expect the mountain opened a coffee shop this year. With a hot drink, you won't feel cold on the viewing platform even for a long time.
Western Hill National Forest Park also held the first garden market, visitors can not only drink coffee, but also buy flowers, cultural creation, experience the China Chic hand-painted and DIY production. This trip up the mountain is quite fulfilling.
The forest park is part of the Western Hill Forest Farm. The west of Beijing has been endowed with landscape spirit since ancient times, with three mountains and five Gardens, Offer Temple, and Badachu Park all located here. Chen Pengfei, chief of the cultural construction section of the Western Hill Forest Farm Management Office, introduced that when afforestation planning was done in the 1950s, the relevant departments put forward the greening policy of "building landscape forests" to create conditions for the construction of forest parks in the future.
When planting trees, the forest farm deliberately planted flowering and color leaf trees near the scenic spot and on the mountain side. Later, in order to improve the beauty of the forest, Western Hillworkers has spent a lot of thoughts. "The sunny snow in the Western Hill is one of the eight scenic spots in Yanjing, but the snowy days are few." Chen Pengfei said that in order to continue the "Western Hill snow" artistic conception, the forest farm plantedpeaches, apricots, pink and white flowers blooming in early spring, looking far away really like a snowy scene.
Gradually, the Western Hill formed the scene of "peach and apricot slope in spring, green forest in summer, red leaves like clouds in autumn, pine and cypress evergreen in winter".
In 2011, about 10% of the area under the forest farm's jurisdiction was opened as a park, which is the closest national forest park to the city. In recent years, the municipal landscaping system has put forward the development idea of "field and garden integration", encouraging state-owned forest farms to build characteristic landscapes, set up cultural facilities, and promote forest culture.
The beauty of the Western Hill does not end in autumn. After the grain rain, Jingshan, the Temple of Heaven and the National Botanical Garden are all good places to enjoy peonies, and the Western Hill Peony Garden is no less impressive. The mountain Peony garden here is unique in Beijing. 202 varieties and eight colors of peonies are in full bloom among the green pines and cypresses, scattered and arranged on the mountains, very distinctive
"Farm" and "garden" are integrated together but managed separately. The forest farm spans the three districts of Haidian, Shijingshan and Mentougou, and there are more than 390 mountainintersections. In order to ensure the safety of mountain forests, Western Hill is carrying out the construction of smart forest farms, and cooperating with China Tower and other companies, to establish a special channel for the Internet of Things. Last year, the forest farm set up underforest fire source detectors, infrared thermal sensing and wisdom bayonet, and 24 high-altitude videos can cover 65% of the forest farm.
Take the lead in practicing green and low-carbon concepts
Western Hill is the first place in the city to build natural education facilities. Everyone here embraces nature, feels the harmony of all things symbiosis, and can also learn about animals and plants.
An 800-meter-long nature observation trail is inlaid in the Western Hill, made of discarded wood piles, bark and stones. Along the way, there are 17 game items such as "Wildflower search", "forest ranger Quiz" and "Bird's Nest small seat", which are easy to play and full of fun. Not to mention kids, even adults can't help to stop. According to a survey by the Beijing Municipal Forestry and Parks Bureau, tourists spend an average of 45 minutes on the nature observation trail. In addition, there are also amusement experience areas and health leisure areas on the mountain. Swings, seesaws scattered in the pine forest, to do push-ups, yoga, meditation, there are also special venues.
Nowadays, carrying out natural education and forest health care has become an important work content of the forest farm culture construction section. The forest farm will organize activities from time to time to recruit the citizens, especially young people to participate.
Take the "Back to the forest to hold Green Pines" forest carnival in June this year. The Forest Park has been decorated with diverse and interesting natural art installations, art healing workshops, science interaction, green market, biodiversity photography exhibition, etc., and has welcomed 13,000 visitors in just a few days. Farm workers became interpreters, introducing silent plants such as pine trees and oaks, as well as lively animals such as rock squirrels and red-billed blue magpies, the children listened with fascination
During the Forest Carnival, a zero-carbon concert was held in the West Hill, which left a deep impression on the reporter.
In the green mountains, the famous conductor Tan Lihua and the Beijing Symphony Orchestra gave a wonderful symphony performance.
Why is it called the Zero Carbon Concert? Because bottled water and paper programs are not distributed at the event site, green travel is encouraged and no garbage is advocated when leaving the site. It is estimated that the activity will produce 3.2 tons of carbon dioxide, and the organizer will carry out 11 acres of forest carbon sequestration and sequestration operations in Western Hill Forest Farm to achieve carbon neutrality.
Such interesting concerts have been held for more than ten years. In the early years, zero carbon, low carbon is still a very pioneering concept, many people first heard of these concepts is in the west Hill. Since 2010, the cumulative participation of the zero-carbon concert has reached 2.6 million people, as the low-carbon concept has gradually got popular, and the concert has become a brand activity of Western Hill.
The mountains in the west of Beijing silently tell the green miracle of Beijing, adding a vivid example to the construction of beautiful China.
World's largest artificial forest farm creates green miracle
Saihanba Forest Farm, located in the northernmost part of Hebei Province and the southern edge of the Hunshandak Sandy Land on the Inner Mongolia Plateau, used to be a vast desert. In the 1960s, the forest farm was established, and 127 junior college student and secondary technical and technical school student from 18 provinces and 242 cadres and workers from the original three forest farms continued to struggle here.
At present, the forest area of Saihanba reaches 1.15 million mu, which is the largest artificial forest farm in the world, and has become a national nature reserve and national forest park. According to estimates by the Chinese Academy of Forestry, Saihanba can fix 860,300 tons of carbon dioxide and release 598,400 tons of oxygen every year.
After large-scale afforestation, Saihanba has promoted the transformation of artificial pure forest, low quality and low efficiency forest into mixed needle leaf, needle leaf and broad leaf and broad leaf forest, and continued to improve the quality of forest ecosystem. Since 2021, 45,500 mu of mixed forest has been created, and 320,000 mu of forest has been cultivated, with the stock volume per unit area 2.76 times that of the national average level of planted forests, and the quality of stands has become better and better.
