Environmental change bringing joy to people

Nanbeishan Greening Project a vivid example of Xizang's efforts in ecological civilization

More residents in Lhasa, the capital city of Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region, are enjoying tours of Nanshan Park.

Despite some efforts to climb them, people like to stand on the hilltops and have a view of the Potala Palace, the Lhasa River and the city, under the blue sky dotted with white clouds.

Chodron, a Lhasa resident, said a trip to the park can give people a clear picture of how the environment has improved in Lhasa and its neighboring areas in recent years.

"Over two years, the once barren mountains are now cloaked in lush greenery and the overall appearance of Lhasa has improved a lot," Chodron said. "While there are more trees in the mountains and gullies, there are fewer sandstorms and the air is more humid," she said.

What makes this change possible is the Xizang autonomous region's efforts to afforest its land in recent years, especially the project in the South and North Mountains in Lhasa and its neighboring Lhokha city, which was launched in 2021.

The South and North Mountains project — which is known as Nanbeishan Greening Project among locals — is Xizang's first large-scale ecological repair project implemented in the area.

The project, launched in 2021, is viewed by local residents and official as a vivid example of Xizang's efforts in ecological civilization, aiming to transform this region into a place with a more livable environment by adding nearly 140,000 hectares of trees in about 10 years.

The South and North Mountains are two mountain ranges called Nanshan and Beishan surrounding the Lhasa River valley. While their majority is located in Lhasa, the southern slopes of Nanshan, facing the Yarlung Zangbo River in the south, belong to Lhokha city.

Planting trees in Xizang, especially in high-altitude areas of more than 3,900 meters, is a challenging task, according to local officials.

Lhasa began its tentative efforts in greening mountains in 2008, with Nanshan Park, which stands at the southern side of the Lhasa River, as a pilot project.

According to local reports, Lhasa began to plant trees on the hillsides near the Lhasa River Bridge that year, initiating a greening project in Nanshan Park.

In 2011, researchers began tree sapling breeding studies on Palding Mountain, a part of the park. In 2012, a higher-altitude tree-planting project was launched in Nanshan Park. Then a greening project in Beishan — or Northern Mountains — started in 2018.

An official at the Lhasa forestry and grassland bureau said more than a decade's efforts in afforestation in Nanshan lay a foundation for the Nanbeishan Greening Project.

"The success of planting trees in Nanshan Park marked a breakthrough in artificial afforestation in semiarid areas at an altitude above 3,900 meters," the official said.

"It has accumulated valuable experience for our efforts in this Nanbeishan greening initiative."

More importantly, he said, the trials of tree planting in Nanshan Park have led to the selection of more than 30 plant varieties suitable for the region, like Chinese pine, sea buckthorn, apricot, locust and sabina vulgaris.

In addition to breakthroughs in breeding, researchers engaged in the pilot project in Nanshan Park acquired crucial technical data for tree planting in mountainous areas. This includes the influence of geological conditions, atmospheric temperature, soil humidity, and amount of sunlight on plant growth.

Li Baoping, another official at the same bureau, is an expert with 30 years of experience in afforestation research in Xizang. He said that both breeding research and tree planting are painstaking missions.

"To select the right plant varieties, we have traveled across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as well as regions in Northwest China," Li said.

"Over the past 10 years, we have brought back more than 170 plant varieties and determined about 30 varieties as suitable for the region."

He added that to ensure a higher survival rate, more soil should be retained on the roots of a sapling when it is moved to the mountain slope sites for planting.

"With so much soil attached to the roots, a pine sapling with 2.5 meters in height can weigh up to 40 kilograms," Li said.

"This calls for great effort when workers move it to a mountain slope at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters."

Despite the efforts, Li said he and his colleagues are pleased with the transformation of the region.

"More than a decade ago, Lhasa was surrounded by barren mountains," Li said.

"Because of the low coverage rate of vegetation, natural disasters like soil erosion and landslides took place sometimes."

He recalled that there used to be sandstorms between December and April.

But nowadays, Li said there has been a drastic drop in the occurrence of sandstorms, as well as other disasters like soil erosion and landslides.

"This is a result of our greening efforts, which have changed the ecological environment of the mountains and valleys for the better," Li said.

Local officials also have great expectations for the Nanbeishan Greening Project. They said once the project is completed in 10 years time, it will add green space equal to 600 Nanshan Parks to Lhasa and Lhokha cities.

Over the past two years, more than 25,000 hectares of forest were added to the Lhasa section of the greening project, according to Lhazin, who added that the overall survival rate of the trees was more than 85 percent.

An official at the Lhokha forestry and grassland bureau, said the city gained more than 8,700 hectares of forests in the past two years thanks to the greening project.

Local forestry experts predict that when the entire project is completed, it can bring about great ecological benefits. These include an additional 49.8 million metric tons in water reserve, 229,100 tons of emissions captured by carbon sink and 190,300 tons of oxygen created.

When commenting on the greening project, a senior official in Xizang said that he expects the efforts can create a pleasant living environment for the public. "I hope our residents, either in the urban or rural areas, can enjoy an ambience with 'flowers in spring, shade in summer and greenness in all seasons'," he said.