In recent years, the ecological landscape along the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River has continued to improve, with a sustained reduction in windy and sandy weather during the winter and spring seasons. The impact of sandstorms on the production, life, and critical infrastructure of residents in Gonggar, Zhanang, and Naidong counties in Shannan City has been continuously reduced.

This is attributed to the continuous implementation of the integrated protection and restoration project for mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts since the 13th Five-Year Plan.

Since the 13th Five-Year Plan, the country has deployed and implemented 52 integrated protection and restoration projects, taken into account the integrity of ecosystems and the continuity of natural geographical units, and implemented systematic, comprehensive, and source-oriented governance. The project of the Yarlung Zangbo River basin was approved in August 2020, with a central subsidy of 1 billion yuan. The implementation period is five years, from 2021 to 2025. The total investment of the project is 3.924 billion yuan, covering seven major categories and 20 subcategories, including the protection and restoration of forests, grasslands, wetlands, and land ecology, as well as the construction of ecological corridors, high-standard farmland and efficient water-saving irrigation, and the development of smart capabilities, totaling 102 subprojects. Currently, 91 of these projects have been completed, with a cumulative investment of 3.65 billion yuan, achieving remarkable results.

The project has achieved wetland ecological protection and restoration covering an area of approximately 87,735.16 mu (about 58 km²), forest ecological protection and restoration covering an area of 197,328.89 mu (about 132 km²), grassland ecological protection and restoration covering an area of 353,781.82 mu (about 236 km²), water environment protection and governance along 60.57 kilometers of river basin, efficient water-saving irrigation and high-standard farmland construction covering an area of 106,420.18 mu (about 71 km²), degraded and desertified land protection and restoration covering an area of 70,759.9 mu (about 47 km²), and mine ecological environment restoration covering an area of 3,461.84 mu (about 2 km²). These have eliminated ecological security risks, optimized the national spatial layout, and promoted the comprehensive restoration of the ecological environment.

Reporter: Sun Kaiyuan

Translator: Zhi Xinghua

Review: Hu Rongguo, Li Chengye