A green revolution

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Saihanba is one of the world’s largest man-made forests (XINHUA)

From a barren wilderness prone to severe sandstorms to a verdant forest that provides Beijing and its adjacent regions with a bulwark against natural calamities, Saihanba in Weichang Manchu and Mongolian autonomous county, Hebei province, are nothing short of a green miracle.

Epic endeavours of three generations of foresters have transformed the arid land into a woodland made by human hands and Zhang Jianglai’s family is proud to have contributed to the extraordinary project.

Zhang, 29, who was born and raised in the county, recalls how his father, a truck driver, transported timber for the forest farm.

“I vividly remember the day my dad first took me to Saihanba. It was like an ocean of green. The rows of trees stretched as far as the eyes could see.”

It was a day he never forgot, and after he graduated in seed production and management from Hebei North University in 2016, he applied for jobs at the forest farm. He started working in the farm’s Dahuanqi area as a technician and took part in an afforestation programme in the spring of 2017.

The same year, the Saihanba afforestation community won the United Nations Champions of the Earth award for its outstanding contribution to the restoration of degraded landscape.

That award was hard earned. The low temperature made planting trees and ensuring their survival a Herculean task.

The afforestation team usually arrived at the foot of the mountains by 4:30 am and then climbed for an hour or so to the designated plantation spot. The unpredictable weather was the toughest challenge, Zhang says. It could be sunny in the morning and snowing in the afternoon.

“My story is just a snippet of the lives of young people working on the forest farm,” says Zhang, now director of Xiahebian forest section. “Our predecessors laid a solid foundation. We are standing on that foundation and pushing forward.”

Historically speaking, Saihanba was once an abundant resource of flora and fauna, but deforestation began towards the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Wars and conflict in the first half of the 20th century reduced it to a desert. The forest shield gone, sandstorms began striking neighbouring areas, including Beijing, with alarming frequency.

In 1962 the central government established the Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm and engaged a team of 369 youths to revive the green lung. The area’s forest cover, which was just 18 per cent in those days, now stands at 82 per cent.

The forest farm’s focus has now shifted from planting trees to protecting the environment by introducing more species and improving disease resistance, Zhang says. Economic considerations have also changed, from just selling timber to understorey agricultural produce. The farm has also adopted advanced technologies, including video monitoring, drone surveillance and radar aid, to prevent fire hazards.

“In ancient Chinese philosophy, nature and everything in it are equal,” says Guo Wenbin, an expert in traditional Chinese culture. “Together we are one. This is why ancient philosophy requires us to be kind to nature and to treat it with the reverence it deserves. Ancient Chinese even personified nature. They believed trees and grass had feelings, and should thus be respected.”

Guo says his home town, Xihaigu in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, faced a similar plight to that of Saihanba. After decades of controlling desertification and promoting afforestation, the once barren acres are now a picturesque natural landscape.

China’s forest cover improved from 8.6 per cent about 60 years ago to more than 23 per cent by the end of 2020, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration says.

Zhang Yu contributed to this story