Makeover of county shows holistic care

When Ma Xuemei first decided to green the barren hills of Changting county in Fujian province more than two decades ago, few people believed anything could grow there. The slopes were bare and the soil was crimson and compacted. Under the scorching summer sun, the exposed ground could reach temperatures of 60 C to 70 C.

Ma was among the first local farmers to contract a section of the mountain, hoping to restore it. What awaited her was not fertile land, but a landscape where every heavy rain erased months of hard work. "The mountain looked lifeless. People said I was wasting my time," she recalled.

As one of the regions in southern China hardest hit by soil erosion, the county had watched decades of deforestation strip its hills bare, leaving farmland degraded, rivers choked with sediment and many rural communities living in poverty.

It was against this backdrop that Xi Jinping made soil erosion control in Changting a long-term priority. During his tenure as a provincial leader in Fujian, he made five fact-finding trips to the county, consistently pressing for stronger efforts to restore its fragile ecology and improve local livelihoods.

In November 1999, while inspecting conservation efforts in Changting, Xi, then serving as the acting governor of Fujian, described soil erosion as a stubborn challenge requiring sustained commitment.

Under his leadership, the restoration project was incorporated into one of Fujian's major livelihood initiatives, bringing unprecedented financial support and policy backing. An annual allocation of 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) was provided by the provincial government, up from the previous allocation of 800,000 yuan.

"The level of support exceeded anything we had imagined," said Zhong Binglin, a former official responsible for soil and water conservation in Changting.

Xi urged local authorities to continue tilting resources toward Changting, "even if we have to lean until our waists bend", he said, recalling a remark that has stayed with him ever since.

In terms of political commitment, sustained support, funding and effective implementation, the support Xi extended to Changting set a precedent for nationwide soil and water conservation and ecological development, Zhong added.

Xi's attention to the county continued in the years that followed. During another inspection in October 2001, he returned to review conservation work, and watered a camphor tree that had been planted the previous year with a donation he had made to support the construction of an ecological park.

Later that month, in a written instruction, Xi called for another eight years of sustained efforts to fundamentally solve Changting's soil erosion problem, and urged that soil and water conservation be incorporated into local economic development planning.

More than a decade later, in 2012, Xi, then China's vice-president, described the county's restoration as having reached "a critical juncture where to move forward is to prevail; to stand still is to fall behind", calling for greater policy support from authorities.

"At every stage, Xi has consistently shown strong care and support, enabling Changting to make steady progress in soil erosion control," said Yue Hui, director of Changting's soil and water conservation center.

Zhong, the former official, said Xi's sustained commitment reflected a governing philosophy that places people's well-being at the center of policymaking.

"Soil erosion wasn't simply an environmental problem," Zhong said. "It affected virtually every rural household in Changting. It threatened farmland, livelihoods and, ultimately, people's ability to survive. That's why Xi attached such importance to tackling it."

By 1985, soil erosion had affected 97,467 hectares of land, accounting for nearly one-third of the Changting's total area, and the county faced a crisis that extended far beyond its barren hillsides.

"As the topsoil was washed away, the land became increasingly compacted and infertile, making it difficult for vegetation to grow. Sediment carried into rivers raised riverbeds, increasing the risk of flooding and threatening farmland downstream," said Yue, the conservation center's director.

The challenge was compounded by the county's geology. Changting's granite-derived red soil is naturally loose and highly vulnerable to erosion. Poor in organic matter and unable to retain water or nutrients, it offered little resistance to heavy rainfall once the thin layer of fertile topsoil had disappeared.

For local farmer Ma, restoring the section of the mountain she had contracted became a lesson in persistence. After every heavy downpour, it was another climb up the mountain to assess the damage. Entire sections of newly planted slopes could disappear in a single rainstorm.

"There were times when I felt completely hopeless. Seeing the seedlings either washed away or scorched by the heat was heartbreaking," she recalled.

The turning point came after years of experimentation. Guided by soil and water conservation experts, Ma abandoned the conventional approach of planting trees first, and instead covered the barren slopes with Bahia grass.

The fast-growing, heat- and drought-tolerant grass proved remarkably helpful. Its dense root system bound the loose soil together, while its broad cover shielded the ground from direct sunlight, lowering surface temperatures and slowing rainwater runoff. As the grass gradually improved the soil quality, shrubs began to take root, followed by trees.

Year after year, the once-barren hills slowly turned green. "I've watched this mountain change little by little. I devoted much of my life to it, and it never let me down," Ma said.

Today, the hillsides Ma once struggled to stabilize are covered with orchards producing chestnuts, oranges and other fruits, creating new sources of income for local families.

Jin Lian, a resident of Sanzhou township in the county, said that as life was "really hard back then", people left home to find work elsewhere. "Now, many are coming back because there are jobs here," she added.

The ecological recovery has also been recorded in another way — through the growing number of winged visitors.

Before dawn each day, photographer Liu Hui quietly scans Changting's wetlands using a spotting scope. "If the environment is good, the birds know first," he said. "They choose places where there's enough food, suitable habitat and clean water."

When Liu began photographing birds in 2016, he would spot only a handful of northern lapwings. Today, flocks of more than 300 arrive each year. Changting has also recorded 345 bird species, around 85 more than when the county published its first bird atlas in 2019.

For him, every newly recorded species tells the same story that the ecosystem is taking flight. "Birds are among the best indicators of ecosystem health.They settle wherever the climate suits them best and food is plentiful," he noted.

Standing beneath the shade of mature trees that did not exist a generation ago, Ma, the farmer, looked toward the mountain where she once watched rain wash away months of hard work within hours.

"We grew grass and planted trees because we wanted the mountain to live again," she said. "Now it feels as if the mountain has breathed life back into us."

xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn