Improved environment brings benefits in Ordos

With its vegetation coverage rate increasing from 25 to 75 percent and forest coverage rate from 12 to 20 percent between 1998 and 2007, Ordos in north China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region has surprised the country and the world not only with its double-digit annual economic growth, but also due to its success in ecological rejuvenation and environmental protection along with development.



Ordos was hit by a severe drought between 1998 and 2000. In those three years, 80 percent of its grasslands became deserts.



Although the barren land yielded little in terms of agricultural produce, farmers and herdsmen tried to continue the lifestyle inherited from their ancestors. Consequently, most remained very poor.



"Farmers expanded their farmland in the hope of increasing output - but the result was further desertification," says Yun Feng, secretary of the Ordos Committee of the Communist Party of China.



"The conflict between traditional modes of production and the ecology, and that between nature and man, became increasingly intense," he added.



In 2000, Ordos put forward the strategy of building "a green city with a sustained animal husbandry industry."



It implemented four policies, comprising prohibition of grazing in certain areas, fallow and rotational grazing, raising livestock in pens, and relocating farmers and herdsmen.



The city's industrial structure and investment policies were also overhauled.



When officials implemented the ban on grazing, local people were dissatisfied, as livestock had grazed on those pastures for centuries.



Although some environmentally conscious locals applauded the move, most herdsmen opposed it.



"There are generally 20 or 30 sheep on a piece of grassland that can feed only 10. Overgrazing is causing the grassland to become a desert. We might derive economic benefits from overgrazing, but what will be left for future generations?" Su Jianrong, then Party secretary of the Otuoke banner, said at a meeting in 2000.



The ban was the only solution - or the grasslands would have been destroyed.



Though the policy came as a shock to many families, it marked the prelude to replenishment of the grasslands.



Wei Erniu is a farmer in Zhejialiang village of Dongsheng district, who has been engaged in animal husbandry for more than 30 years.



His 20-hectare grassland was included in the 2004 grazing ban.



Within three years, his grassland could yield more than 20,000 kg of fresh grass each year.



Before 2000, Wei had only 40 sheep, but finding them adequate forage was a constant worry. Now he runs various small businesses in his spare time, and his 80 sheep earn him 15,000 yuan a year, compared to 2,000 to 3,000 yuan four years ago.



The policy of banning livestock from grazing has brought back Ordos' lush grasslands, and also boosted animal husbandry development.



The local ecology has also significantly improved since Ordos implemented its environmental rejuvenation policy eight years ago.



Vegetation coverage has increased to 75 percent, the length of grass has gone up from 15 cm to 40 cm, and the yield of grass per mu from 19.7 kg to 59.1 kg.



The policy has proved to be an effective way of achieving a balance between nature and production.



With Ordos' low population density, it is unrealistic to try to improve infrastructure in every inhabited area. In 2000, the government made the bold decision to relocate the population.



The number of herdsmen was reduced, with those living in underdeveloped areas moved to places with much better facilities.



Liu Qingru, a villager in Etuoke front banner, now has an annual income of 140,000 yuan selling calves and fattened sheep. He has benefited greatly from the relocation program.



Another villager named Zhang Shihua has found a job in the city, while his wife runs a small grocery. Together, they can make 5,000 yuan a month.



The 400,000 former farmers and herders that were involved in the program have similar tales to tell.



Source: China Daily