Clear water, blue sky, lush mountain: Guizhou's efforts in environmental protection pay off

GUIYANG, China, Aug. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report by Huanqiu.com: 

According to the Environmental Protection Department of Guizhou, in 2021, the overall quality of surface water of Guizhou is "excellent", and 97.7% of the major river monitoring sections are of good quality. However, the current achievement requires a concerted effort from Guizhou Provincial Government.

Guizhou's efforts made in the area of ecological protection and governance has left great impression on foreigners. Rafael Dezcallar, ambassador of Spain to China, said that Guizhou has proposed innovative solutions to environmental governance and green development, and has achieved remarkable results.

In Kaiyang, Guizhou, Southwest China, phosphorus rock mining companies and manufacturing enterprises have currently disappeared. "The local ecological environment has improved to a large extent. Now there is no smell of phosphorus, and the dust and noise have also reduced." Gou Qianshuang, a resident of Kaiyang has witnessed remarkable changes in his hometown, especially the Yangshui River.

The Yangshui River is the second-level tributary of the Wu River. At the end of the last century, the nearby companies discharged wastewater into the river, which led to dramatically high phosphorus levels and a contaminated river.

To improve the water quality of the Yangshui River, Guizhou strictly implemented the River Chief System (RCS), proposed new regulations and optimized sewage treatment systems.

After effective pollution treatment, the total phosphorus level of the Yangshui river dropped from about 8.0mg/L to 0.2 mg/L, and the water quality reaches Grade Ⅲ. The increasingly clean Yangshui River reflects the positive attitude of Guizhou towards ecological civilization.

In addition to water conservation, Guizhou has promoted innovation in plant protection. In Anshun, Guizhou, the department concerned has applied big data to record information on the ancient trees, and accordingly made QR code plates.

"As long as people scan the QR code, we can view the basic information of these ancient trees, such as geographical location, growth status and high-definition pictures. In this way, we can better understand and protect plants." Fang Ming, a local citizen said. At present, over 1,300 ancient trees have their Electronic ID, which enables efficient plant protection.

Moreover, in terms of environmental preservation, Guizhou has also paid attention to residents' daily routines. Walking into a food street in Zhongshan District, Liupanshui, customers can find that each restaurant has installed a new oil mist eliminator.

So far the Zhongshan District has formed a full-covered air quality monitoring system. If the air pollution levels exceed safe limits, the alarm will automatically go off. And the related departments will then notify the enterprises in time and take dust control measures.

It can be seen that ecological priority is leading the charge in Guizhou's pursuit of sustainable development. In fact, during China's 13th Five-Year Plan period, President Xi Jinping has paid great attention to the construction of ecological civilization in Guizhou and issued a series of important instructions. The concept of "clear waters and green mountains are as good as mountains of gold and silver" has reshaped the development process of Guizhou.

In recent years, Guizhou has given equal value to economic advancement and environmental protection. According to the Environmental Protection Department of Guizhou, the ecological environment quality is generally good and stable in 2021.

In addition to water quality, Guizhou also witnessed ideal air quality, and the average number of days with AQI (air quality index) in 9 central cities is 98.4%.

More importantly, the forest coverage growth rate and amount of reforested farmland of Guizhou rank first in China. In the past 10 years, Guizhou completed afforestation of 50.97 million mu (3.4 million hectares), with an increase in forest coverage rate from 47 percent to 62.12 percent.

According to the Forestry Department of Guizhou Province, Guizhou has set up 314 natural reserves of various types, and biodiversity richness ranks among the top in the country. The total forestry output value increased from 40.1 billion yuan to 371.9 billion yuan, with an increase of more than 9 times in ten years.

"A good ecological environment is Guizhou's greatest competitive advantage. Therefore, we must continue to preserve the environment," says Shen Yiqin, secretary of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee and chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Guizhou Province.