Changting County: Soil Erosion Treatment

Changting County is located in west Fujian Province and in the southern section of the Wuyi Mountains. Mountains and hilly land occupy about 85 percent of its total area.

Changting had suffered serious soil erosion due to natural disasters, population growth and frequent wars. Barren mountains, murky waters, infertile paddies and poor residents once summed up the county. Soil erosion posed a basic and arduous challenge to local economic and social development.

Changting began to address soil erosion in 1983. It initially curbed soil erosion through planting trees and meadows and closing hillsides to firewood gathering.

When Xi Jinping worked in Fujian Province, he made five fact-finding trips to Changting. He called on the local people to green the barren mountains, and made soil erosion control a provincial project. In December 2011 and January 2012, Xi, then in his capacity as a state leader, issued two more instructions on soil erosion control in Changting. He urged the people to press ahead in the quest for success at this critical moment, otherwise they would fall behind. He also demanded greater support for Changting, and suggested summarizing local experience for application elsewhere. 

Acting on the idea that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, Changting has continued with soil erosion control. The local Party committee plays the leading role, and the local government directs the work, each holding its own responsibility. The county has introduced new management ideas and technologies, and combined engineering, bio-measures, agricultural technologies, ecological restoration and artificial interference. The local people are fully motivated to contract the barren land, and enterprises are also encouraged to participate, thus forming positive synergy.

The Changting model involves pooling the efforts of the local Party committee, government departments, private enterprises, and the residents, to turn barren mountains into oases. In 2018, Changting was removed from the national list of poverty-stricken counties. It is a model of soil and eco-environmental restoration, and an exemplar in China's quest to build an eco-civilization.

福建長汀縣水土流失治理

長汀縣，地處福建省西部、武夷山南麓，是閩、粵、贛三省邊陲要沖，土地面積3099平方公里，其中山地面積約占85%，是典型的“八山一水一分田”山區縣。近代以來，受到自然災害、人口增長和戰亂頻發等因素的影響，長汀縣水土流失問題愈發嚴峻。“山光、水濁、田瘦、人窮”，曾是當地自然生態惡化、群眾生活貧困的真實寫照。治理水土流失，成為長汀推動經濟社會發展的首要而艱巨的任務。

1983年，長汀縣開始水土流失規模化治理。此后十余年間，通過人工植樹種草、封山育林等措施，當地水土流失勢頭得到初步控制。21世紀初，習近平在福建工作期間，曾先后5次深入長汀調研指導，發出了徹底消滅荒山的動員令，長汀縣水土流失治理被列為福建省為民辦實事項目，推動水土流失治理和生態建設邁上規范、科學、有效的道路。2011年12月、2012年1月，習近平連續兩次對長汀縣水土流失治理作出重要批示，指出長汀縣水土流失治理正處在一個十分重要的節點上，進則全勝，不進則退，應進一步加大支持力度。要總結長汀經驗，推動全國水土流失治理工作。

按照這一要求，長汀人民牢固樹立“綠水青山就是金山銀山”的理念，持續開展水土流失治理。主要做法包括：堅持黨委領導、政府主導，建立黨政領導掛鉤責任制。創新治理理念和技術，實行工程措施、生物措施和農業技術措施有機結合，人工治理與生態修復有機結合。充分發揮群眾主體作用，培育大戶引導治理、組織農民承包治理、引導企業積極參與治理，形成水土流失治理的強大合力。長汀人民用成功實踐總結出“黨委領導、政府主導、群眾主體、社會參與、多策并舉、以人為本、持之以恒”的水土流失治理經驗，實現了“荒山—綠洲—生態家園”的歷史性轉變，創造了生態文明建設的佳績，釋放出經濟社會發展的多重效應。2018年，長汀縣摘帽脫貧。長汀縣水土流失治理是中國探索生態文明建設的一個生動縮影，為全國水土保持和生態保護修復提供了樣本與借鑒。