Plant trees on the "Roof of the World" and make the "Third Pole of the Earth" green!

Tibet, known as the "Roof of the World" and the "Third Pole of the Earth", is an important ecological security barrier for my country and even the whole of Asia. It is extremely important to protect the creatures, plants, rivers and mountains on the snow-capped plateau and do a good job in ecological protection.

In 2021, the largest afforestation construction project in Tibet, the Lhasa North and South Mountain Greening Project, was launched. The construction scope of the Lhasa North and South Mountain Greening Project covers 35 towns in 9 counties (districts) including Chengguan District, Liuwu New District, Doilungdeqen, Dagze, Qushui, Mezhugongka, Linzhou, Langkazi and Gonggar in Shannan. The project planning period is 10 years (2021-2030). Through the implementation of afforestation projects, tree seedling projects, supporting infrastructure projects and scientific and technological support projects, it will help achieve "green mountains and rivers in five years and green Lhasa in ten years".

File photo: Workers sow seeds and plant trees on a mountain near Cijiaolin Village in Chengguan District, Lhasa

In 2022, Lhasa completed 558,700 mu of afforestation and greening; organized and implemented the greening projects of the North and South Mountains of Lhasa in an orderly manner, with 91,700 mu of artificial afforestation and 36,000 mu of spot afforestation; continued to organize and implement the "Green Siege" Phase III project, the "First Build, Then Supplement" project and other national land greening projects, actively organized voluntary tree planting activities and rural "four sides" tree planting actions, and completed 52,700 mu of afforestation and greening; to date, Lhasa has added 350,000 mu of forest land and more than 47 million seedlings of various types, and completed 161,300 mu of afforestation in 2023, accounting for about 90% of this year's planned tasks. The rich ecological resources have become the "happy real estate" of the snow-capped plateau.

It is understood that by 2030, the greening project of Lhasa's North and South Mountain Parks will complete afforestation of 2.06 million mu, with an average annual carbon fixation of 229,100 tons and an average annual oxygen release of 193,000 tons. The ten-year greening of Lhasa is just a microcosm of Tibet's ecological development. At present, 50% of Tibet's land area has been included in the ecological protection red line, and there are 47 nature reserves of various types with a total area of ​​more than 410,000 square kilometers. More and more cities and counties in Tibet have doubled their greening to make people feel comfortable and livable.

Lhasa will continue to promote the construction of a natural protection area system with national parks as the main body, carry out large-scale national afforestation actions in a scientific manner, continue to strengthen the management of forest and grassland resources, give full play to the leading role of the forest chief system, firmly defend the bottom line of forest and grassland fire prevention, and accelerate the high-quality development of forest and grassland undertakings. Efforts will be made to build Lhasa into an ecologically livable plateau provincial capital city with "green mountains embracing the north and south and green waters surrounding the ancient city", and make new and greater contributions to the creation of an ecological civilization highland in Tibet.

Review expert: Yang Rurong, associate researcher at the Institute of Geography and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences

China Association for Science and Technology Department of Science Popularization

Xinhuanet

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