The city of Yangzhou in east China’s Jiangsu province has given full play to ecological conservation in recent years by restoring and repairing the ecological landscape along the Yangtze River so as to ensure the high-quality development of the regional economy.
The Sanjiangying area is the source of the eastern route of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project, the core area for the Huaihe River to empty into the Yangtze River and the central piece of the Jianghuai Ecological Corridor.
Pan Fangfu, a villager in Yangzhou, used to earn some 200 thousand yuan from his aquatic breeding farm since 1998.
In 2011, he was vexed by the forced closure of his aquatic farm due to the reduced income.
Cao Jun, CPC Chief of Jiusheng Village, Yangzhou
With a view to controlling pollution at the source and reducing the burden on the ecological corridor, the local government made the decision to shut down two shipyards, one dock, four poultry farms, one chemical plant and one restaurant.
The 18-km-long shoreline of the Yangtze River is now reporting no source of pollution while 1650 mu of forests have been built along the Sanjiangying area and 500 mu of wetland has been restored. Construction on a 4400-mu provincial wetland park is in full swing.
From the Sanjiangying water intake to the Jiangdu water conservancy hub, including more than 20 square kilometers north of the Jiajiang River and east of the Mangdao River, Yangzhou has carried out special remediation for hidden dangers of water pollution risks, built environmental infrastructure, restored ecological wetland features, built an ecological source memorial park, and constructed wooden walkway and bicycle path through the water system to come up with a rich layers of landscape structure.
The Jiangdu district has so far invested more than 8 billion yuan on the demolition of the shanty towns with a sprawling area of more than half a million square meters.
It has also launched special programs to address pollution caused by plating and chemical sectors, carried out 1004 projects to treat water and air pollution, shut down 304 chemical plants and 108 small shipyards, sand wharf and concrete mixing stations.
In the meantime, 234 poultry farms were shut down, 138 polluted rivers were dredged, and 4000 mu of water area was reclaimed for fishing.
The 15 thousand-mu green corridor along the Yangtze River, the Grand Canal and the Shaobo Lake has ensured the transfer of water from the south to the north.
Yang Xiaorong, Deputy Mayor of Jiangdu District
(Source:ourjiangsu.com)
