Seedlings in Baiquan County

Seedlings in Baiquan County

　　Seedlings in Baiquan County

　　The forestry development in Baiquan County has achieved remarkable results alongside the rapid growth of the national economy. The hardworking and kind-hearted people of Baiquan have used greenery to create a material, spiritual, and ecological civilization with distinctive characteristics of the times.

　　In the early days of reclamation, Baiquan County had superior natural resources and abundant forest vegetation. However, with increasing population and continuous land cultivation, the forest resources suffered severe damage, leading to frequent natural disasters. According to statistics, by the late 1970s, the forest coverage rate was only 3.7%. The county had 27,000 eroded gullies, losing 100 million cubic meters of water, 14 million tons of soil, and 119,000 tons of fertilizer annually. Additionally, 750,000 acres of wind-eroded land suffered losses valued at over 15 million yuan each year in seeds and fertilizers. Ecological poverty pushed Baiquan’s agriculture and rural economy to the brink of collapse.

　　Since 1978, when Baiquan County was included as a key county in the national “Three-North” Shelterbelt Program, successive county Party committees and governments have adhered to a unified long-term vision. For over twenty years, they led the people in persistently planting trees without wavering—painting landscapes, writing pastoral poetry, and composing symphonies of pine waves. With greenery, they composed an ecological anthem that revitalized Baiquan’s economic development. To date, the county has established 1.23 million mu of artificial forests, achieving a forest coverage rate of 22.7%. The total standing timber volume is 5.49 million cubic meters, including 4.2 million cubic meters of poplar. The total value of this “green bank deposit” has reached 5.4 billion yuan. Using Korean pine to embellish forest grids and fields, they have created a miracle for the next fifty years and developed 110,000 mu of successor shelterbelts, presenting a new model of shelterbelt construction reminiscent of a Jiangnan paradise in northern China. The county’s forestry achievements have earned it 15 national-level awards, including National Advanced County in Afforestation and Greening, and National Advanced County in Ecological Forestry Projects. In 1992, the county achieved the milestone of one million mu of artificial forests, prompting the provincial government to hold a grand tree monument ceremony to inspire people to forever cherish, protect, and develop greenery.

　　As the “Hometown of Seedlings in Northern China,” Baiquan County centers around key rural seedling nurseries and features a diverse range of seedling cultivation models including state-owned, collective, and private operations. The county currently has 11 million seedlings, including 3 million 4–5-year-old container-grown Korean pine seedlings, 2 million large-diameter (3–8 cm) Populus berolinensis saplings, 2 million large-diameter (3–5 cm) Tatarian maple saplings, 1 million 50-cm to 2-meter-tall spruce saplings, 2 million poplar cuttings, and 1 million other seedlings for greening and landscaping purposes.