Planting trees at an altitude of 3,600 meters, the barren mountains are turning green!

"Gelsang flowers are in bloom, trees are lush, streams are gurgling, and every step brings a new scene." This picturesque scenery comes from Nanshan Park in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region. The park covers an area of ​​more than 1,600 mu and is one of the results of Lhasa's implementation of the afforestation project of the South and North Mountains. More than ten years ago, this was a barren mountain with no vegetation. Now, strolling in Nanshan Park, the hillside in the autumn is covered with green and golden. Slowly walking up the trail, looking around, the scenery is beautiful, and the Potala Palace in the distance is majestic and solemn.

As we all know, Lhasa is more than 3,600 meters above sea level. It is not easy to plant trees on the mountains here, and the water source needed for planting trees is another problem. At the beginning of the afforestation and greening project, many water pumps were specially installed, and artificial afforestation experiments were carried out in different altitudes and different types of land in different seasons. More than 20 kinds of trees and shrubs with different seedling sources and different specifications were planted in a targeted manner, and the seedling varieties, specifications, planting techniques and management measures suitable for afforestation and greening of Nanshan Mountain were gradually explored.

With the continuous completion of the afforestation and greening project of Nanshan, Nanshan Park has set up an overall functional structure of "one stream connecting four districts and eight major scenic spots", and strived to create an ecological garden and forest park integrating leisure, entertainment, sightseeing and tourism. The park is full of lush and green shrubs of different heights and shorts, and the water flows under the wooden bridges; tourists gather in groups in the pavilions and on the stone roads, presenting a beautiful picture of harmony between man and nature. There are several must-see attractions in Nanshan Park, such as the "Potala Palace Mirror Lake" to take pictures of the reflection of the Potala Palace and climb to the top of Nanshan Park to enjoy the panoramic view of Lhasa.

File photo: "Bukgong Mirror Lake" in Nanshan Park, Lhasa

In order to improve the basic supporting facilities of Nanshan Park and enhance the quality of the park, Nanshan Park implemented an upgrade and renovation project from the end of June 2021. According to the direction of the mountain, three safe, beautiful and natural mountaineering and health trails were built, namely A, B and C. The three mountaineering and health trails and the two branch trails of Line C add up to a total of about 5.7 kilometers. Among them, Line C is the longest and Line B is the shortest, which is also the most popular check-in route. In addition, a glass viewing platform halfway up the mountain was built on Line A.

The afforestation of the Nanshan Mountains demonstrates the efforts and achievements of Lhasa's ecological civilization construction. In recent years, Tibet has continuously increased its efforts to protect the ecological environment, vigorously promoted the national afforestation action, and continued to carry out the afforestation project of the South and North Mountains in Lhasa. In 2022, Tibet plans to complete the afforestation of 2.067 million mu in 10 years, and issue the "Overall Plan for the Greening Project of the South and North Mountains in Lhasa (2021-2030)". According to statistics, the greening project of the South and North Mountains in Lhasa can add an average of about 49.8 million tons of water storage, 229,100 tons of carbon fixation, 193,000 tons of oxygen release, 27,100 tons of fertilizer retention, and an annual ecological value of 1.485 billion yuan. Increase scenery with green, increase income with green, and revitalize with green. The ecological environment around Lhasa continues to improve, and the quality of life of the people continues to improve.

Review expert: Gao Zhiling, Professor of College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Hebei Agricultural University

China Association for Science and Technology Department of Science Popularization

Xinhuanet

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