Green drive scales new peaks - Seite 3

Wang Hongbo, director of the park's management office, said 114 mines were closed in 2018, with all facilities and buildings dismantled or removed, and 25 tours that posed threats to the ecosystem had been modified due to environmental concerns.

The improved environment has seen the revival of the population of some endangered species. Images of Tibetan donkeys, blue sheep and yellow Mongolian gazelle, animals not seen since the 1990s due to excessive hunting, have been captured by infrared cameras several times in recent years.

Zhao said rangers were four times as likely to encounter a blue eared pheasant now than 20 years ago, with the chances of seeing a blue sheep seven times greater.

With three other rangers, he safeguards wildlife in 427 sq km of forest. They patrol the region for 21 days a month and each covers more than 30,000 km a year－nearly three-quarters of the Earth's circumference.

Preserving ecosystems

Other areas have also seen their ecosystems recover and have gained better protection thanks to China's efforts to establish nature reserves.

When delivering a report at the opening of the 19th National Congress of the CPC in 2017, Xi said the country, as part of an effort to build a beautiful China, would develop a nature reserve system composed mainly of national parks.

That idea had its genesis in 2005, when Xi was the Party secretary of Zhejiang province. In August of that year, on a visit to Yucun, a village in Zhejiang's Anji county, Xi praised the local government for stopping mining activities and closing cement factories to deal with a serious pollution problem.

During the visit, Xi put forward his famous development theory that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", which later became known as the "Two Mountains Theory".

The green development philosophy is changing the country, with action plans to fight air, water and soil pollution introduced in recent years and its harshest-ever Environmental Protection Law rolled out.

Ecological civilization was also included in the CPC Constitution as a principle for development at the 18th CPC National Congress. It was the first time in the world that a ruling party had highlighted green development in its charter.

In June 2020, the State Council unveiled a guideline on nature reserves, with national parks as a major component, aimed at providing systemic protection for natural ecosystems, relics, scenery and biodiversity, and also safeguarding the country's ecological security.