Observation on ecological restoration of abandoned open-pit mines in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

In April 2019, ecological restoration of abandoned open-pit mines in the Yangtze River Economic Belt was fully launched. In the following two years, in accordance with the overall requirements of ensuring safety, restoring ecology, and taking into account the landscape, various local measures were taken to systematically restore the ecology of abandoned open-pit mines within 10 kilometers along the main and tributaries of the Yangtze River.

Recently, China Natural Resources News reporters went to Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Chongqing to explore the story of the Yangtze River Economic Belt smoothing the "scars" of the earth and building a strong ecological barrier in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

In early summer, the rivers on both sides of the Yangtze River are green and the mountains are green.

"In a few months there will be a full fruit season, and this year will be a great harvest!" At the navel orange base in Feilong Village, Zhangde Street, Chishui River, looking at the navel oranges growing happily all over the mountains, Yuan Qiang, vice chairman of Chenglin Sweet Orange Planting Professional Cooperative in Gulin County, Sichuan Province, is full of expectations.

The pool was full of green water and flowers. In the Gongluo Mountain Mine Park in Chongqing, the former dusty quarry has quietly transformed into a beautiful "small Jiuzhai", attracting a large number of photography enthusiasts.

In the mountains and valleys of northeast and northwest Yunnan, hidden hazards of mining geological disasters have been controlled, and large "scars" have become green Spaces and farmland. A crop of sweet and crisp peas, knocking on the door of farmers to get rich.

In the past two years, thanks to the ecological restoration of abandoned open-pit mines in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the exposed mountains and rocks in Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Chongqing provinces (municipalities) have been covered with green, the problem of soil erosion has been effectively curbed, and the economic, ecological and social benefits have emerged. The concept of "clear water and green mountains are Jinshan and silver mountains" has a clear and vivid transformation path here.

Leverage capital to restore green and enrich the people

In Sichuan, 96.6% of the river system belongs to the Yangtze River system, and the basin area is close to 1/4 of the total area of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, which is an important water conservation area and the core area of ecological construction in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. At the same time, the area through which the Yangtze River flows in Sichuan is also a high-altitude ecologically fragile area, a densely populated plain area and an industrial agglomeration area around the basin, where various ecological and environmental risks are superimposed and intertwined, and ecological governance points are scattered in a wide range.

In recent years, Sichuan Province has placed the restoration of the ecological environment of the Yangtze River in an overwhelming position, made overall plans for the development, utilization and control of territorial space, designated 13 red lines for ecological protection in the province, and established 166 nature reserves of various types. To construct an ecological security strategic pattern of "four zones and eight multi-point zones" with four ecological functional zones as the focus, eight ecological corridors as the framework, and typical ecosystems as the unit.

Ecological restoration of abandoned open-pit mines within 10 kilometers of the main tributaries of the Yangtze River is an important starting point for Sichuan to build an ecological barrier in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. The local government has established a working mechanism for the arrangement and deployment of provincial leadership, the supervision and guidance of provincial departments, and the specific implementation of cities and counties, and has formulated documents such as the Technical Regulations for Ecological Restoration of abandoned open-pit Mines in the main and tributaries of the Yangtze River (Trial) and the Measures for the Management of ecological restoration Projects of abandoned Mines left over from history in Sichuan Province, reversing the construction period and wall map operations to accelerate the ecological restoration of mines.

In the flat, 10 cm tall citrus seedlings are green; On the slope, about 50 cm tall cypress seedlings are neatly arranged... In Yibin, Sichuan Province, the "capital city of the Yangtze River", the scene in front of us is difficult to be associated with the dump site. Li Jiamo, a villager in Cuihe village in Xuzhou district of Yibin, told China Natural Resources News that in the early years, because of the construction of levees, this 6.7 hectares of land became a waste field, machinery and equipment, sand and gravel piled up at will, and dust flew in the wind. However, after the ecological restoration of the mine, the abandoned land has become a new economic growth point in the village: the 13,000 citrus trees planted on reclaimed land can increase the direct economic income of about 98,900 yuan per year.