Yellow River goes green to get clean

Planting teams

The mountains flanking the river are steep and the soil is thin, which presents a challenge to those who want to plant trees. In response, Yichuan has developed its own planting techniques.

Wang Yonghong, head of a planting team in the county, explained one of them: the team members dig a pit in which they place rocks they remove from the bare mountains, then they fill it with soil.

"When the wind is strong, we bury the seedlings deep. When there is no water, we bring it here to irrigate the mountains," he said.

Since 2004, Wang and his team have used those techniques to plant more than 333 hectares of trees on the right-hand side of the Hukou Waterfall.

While they have never had a serious accident, he said the work can sometimes be dangerous.

"In April, for example, I planted trees on a more-than-10-meter-high cliff on the right-hand bank upstream of the waterfall," he recalled. "I almost fell off the cliff when I was hauling 4 to 5 kilograms of saplings by rope."

The team comprises local farmers who can bear hardship and have a good sense of responsibility.

Some of the team members have been part of the afforestation program for more than 10 years, so they have well-developed planting skills and rich experience in greening work.

The county has eight such teams, and the one led by Wang has more than 30 members.

Hao Yunfeng, deputy head of the county's forestry bureau, said the green coverage around the waterfall has reached 80 percent, which has helped prevent water loss and soil erosion along the river and improved the environment around the waterfall.