Traveling along the winding mountain road, we soon reached the summit. Here, the grass is lush, the trees are dense, flowers are in full bloom, and occasionally wild animals dart across the roadside, while birds soar above... The once battered and scarred "mined-out area" has transformed into a nascent "aerial garden". This is the Shisanliwan mining area in Laiziling, Linwu County, Chenzhou City, Hunan Province, which has undergone ecological restoration and is now a place that can rival a garden.
The restored Shisanliwan mining area
Overall planning outlines the restoration blueprint
The Shisanliwan mining area is located north of Linwu County and is an important watershed area for the Xiangjiang River Basin and the Pearl River Basin. The mining area covers approximately 48 square kilometers and is known as the "hometown of non-ferrous metals" and the "treasure basin of southern Hunan". It has a mining history of over 400 years and has made significant contributions to local economic development, but long-term chaotic mining has severely damaged the local ecological environment.
To further improve the ecological environment, with the efforts of the Hunan Provincial Natural Resources Department, in 2013, the governance of the Shisanliwan mining area was included in the "No. 1 Key Project" for ecological protection and restoration in the Xiangjiang River Basin and Dongting Lake in Hunan Province. In 2018, the mining area successfully applied for the national third batch of pilot projects for ecological protection and restoration of mountains, waters, forests, fields, lakes, and grasslands, with a project implementation period from 2018 to 2020, covering an area of approximately 289 square kilometers.
Before the project implementation, Linwu County specifically established a command group led by the county party secretary as an advisor, the county mayor as the commander, the executive deputy county mayor and the deputy county mayor in charge as deputy commanders, with the main responsible persons from relevant functional departments as members, to comprehensively coordinate the project implementation work. They issued the "Implementation Plan for the Ecological Protection and Restoration Project of the Shisanliwan Mining Area in Linwu County" and conducted overall planning for the ecological restoration of the Shisanliwan mining area, outlining the restoration blueprint.
To achieve the goal of adding or restoring 2,500 acres of forest land and 2,000 acres of grassland, Linwu County adhered to the principles of comprehensive governance and systematic restoration, established a scientific indicator system, and conducted overall planning for the restoration of the Shisanliwan mining area, addressing issues such as damage from open-pit mining, geological disasters, drainage, heavy metal exceedances, waste rock piles, industrial square occupation and destruction, and soil heavy metal exceedances.
According to relevant responsible persons from the project construction party, Hunan Province 402 Team, the open-pit mining sites, industrial squares, and waste rock piles were treated through geomorphological reshaping and vegetation reconstruction. Vegetation restoration was carried out using the method of "combining trees and shrubs, complementing vines and grasses", while retaining some typical mining relics, mining roads, and construction access roads. Necessary maintenance and supporting facilities were built, creating a popular science and leisure area in Laiziling, and the terrain was designed to create "three zones, eight relics, and two lines". Additionally, a "54211" project plan was formulated, which includes five ecological restoration areas in the Ganxi River, Monkey River, Lashui River, Paixing River, and Xiejing River basins, four types of restoration projects including mountain restoration from mining damage, water body restoration from mining damage, ecological restoration of forest and grassland occupied by mining, and farmland restoration from mining damage, and 21 restoration projects such as ecological protection and restoration of waste rock piles and industrial squares in the southern part of Tongtian Mountain, and land ecological restoration projects at the confluence of Wushui and Sanjiang. This created a demonstration area for ecological protection and restoration in the Laiziling mining area, eliminated various geological disasters such as dangerous rock bodies, landslides, and mudslides, fully utilized existing resources, and created geological relic landscapes tailored to local conditions, endowing the mining area with cultural sentiment, cultural connotation, and spiritual belief, laying a good foundation for subsequent industrial development.
The restoration and governance project of the Shisanliwan mining area provides a good reference for the governance of abandoned non-ferrous metal mines. In the construction of ecological civilization, new actions must be taken, and overall planning must be done well. It is necessary not only to control the increase of ecological environment problems in mining areas but also to actively reduce the existing ecological environment problems, truly implementing the protection of every mountain, every water, every grass, and every tree.
"Five Chaos Co-Governance" to protect green waters and lush mountains.
In the comprehensive environmental governance of the Shisanliwan mining area, the party and government at both the Chenzhou City and Linwu County levels adhered to a practical approach, firmly established the ecological civilization concept of respecting, conforming to, and protecting nature, and determined the governance idea of "solidifying the foundation and clearing the source, prioritizing top-down approaches, and industrial transformation". In response to five major issues: numerous illegal mining points, a large number of workers, significant ecological pollution, many safety production hazards, and numerous mining-related conflicts and disputes, a comprehensive governance plan for "Five Chaos Co-Governance" was formulated, starting the journey to protect green waters and lush mountains.
Adhere to governance against chaos. With the determination of a warrior cutting off his wrist and the spirit of bone scraping therapy, a "shock therapy" was implemented in the Shisanliwan and Xianghualing mining areas. City leaders personally supervised, and county leaders led teams, drawing personnel from relevant departments such as public security, land, environmental protection, safety supervision, and mining law enforcement teams, organizing nearly 300 people daily for concentrated rectification of the Shisanliwan mining area. A total of 1,100 illegal mining points were closed or destroyed, 3,500 pieces of machinery and equipment were dismantled or destroyed, over 5,000 factory sheds were demolished or burned, and more than 100,000 workers were dispersed. To prevent illegal enterprises from reviving, Linwu County also established a long-term mechanism, conducted daily inspections, and maintained a high-pressure stance against illegal activities, ensuring the smooth progress of ecological restoration and governance work in the mining area.
Adhere to governance of mining. For licensed mines in the Shisanliwan mining area, resource integration and reorganization were carried out, establishing Southern Mining Co., Ltd. and Xianghualing Tin Industry Co., Ltd., vigorously promoting technological upgrades and transformations, and enhancing deep processing of mineral products to improve resource utilization rates. Among them, Southern Mining Co., Ltd. obtained 14 national patents, and the tin products of Xianghualing Tin Industry became a well-known brand in the country, leading the orderly development of mining.
Adhere to governance of mountains. Following the principle of "grass where suitable, trees where suitable, combining trees and shrubs, complementing vines and grasses", the ecological restoration and governance project of the Shisanliwan mining area was comprehensively implemented. The "Standards for the Construction of Green Mines" were formulated, vigorously promoting the construction of "mining re-greening" and "garden-style mines", focusing on planting native tree species with developed root systems and high survival rates, such as cedar, masson pine, cypress, and alpine rhododendron. A total of 4,160 hectares of mountain closure and afforestation and 3,270 hectares of artificial afforestation were completed. At the same time, enterprises were actively urged to assume the main responsibility for re-greening, completing the clearing of over 600 acres of heavy metal-contaminated land, re-greening over 400 acres, reclaiming over 100 acres, planting 280,000 square meters of grass, and planting 60,000 tree seedlings, significantly improving the ecological environment of the mining area.
Persist in water management. More than 40 million yuan has been invested to build 136 centralized water supply projects, solving the drinking water safety issues for over 150,000 people in the Sanxiwang and surrounding areas. Special funds for soil and water conservation have been established, implementing water conservation forests and farmland irrigation projects, addressing the irrigation issues for over 20,000 acres of farmland in 16 administrative villages, promoting local economic development.
Persist in pollution control. Measures such as 'cracking down on illegal activities, building walls to block stones, damming rivers to stop sand, dredging to protect embankments, deep wastewater treatment, covering soil to restore greenery, and upgrading industries' have been taken, with an investment of 580 million yuan for comprehensive management of the area. At the same time, we adhere to green development, vigorously develop wind power, actively promote transformation and upgrading, and have built the largest and best wind farm in the Sanxiwang area, which has played a significant role in promoting the development of clean energy in Hunan Province and Chenzhou. Large-scale breeding of cattle, sheep, and Linwu ducks has been initiated, taking an efficient ecological path that balances both 'quality' and 'quantity' in modern ecological agriculture, achieving an organic unity of ecological and economic benefits.
By the end of December 2020, the main project was completed and successfully passed the acceptance inspection by the Chenzhou Natural Resources and Planning Bureau and the Hunan Provincial Natural Resources Department, providing valuable exploration for solving ecological environmental problems.
A beautiful ecology brings a beautiful life.
Mountains and rivers are Hunan's most beautiful business card, and ecology is Hunan's greatest resource. Restoring nature to a green landscape and providing local areas with a golden mountain and silver mountain, achieving the utilization of waste resources, building a beautiful ecological environment, and driving local economic development is the essence of ecological civilization construction and the common expectation of people.
For the green mountains and clear waters of the land of Sanxiang, and for the elders of the land of Sanxiang, there is a group of people who firmly establish the concept that 'green mountains and clear waters are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver.' They travel between mountains and waters, conducting on-site investigations of abandoned mines under the scorching sun, researching ecological restoration plans for mines under the stars, showcasing new achievements in ecological civilization construction.
Ecological restoration of mines is a complex system project that must adhere to the basic principles of 'respecting nature, conforming to nature, and protecting nature,' gradually integrating into a comprehensive protection and restoration system for mountains, waters, forests, fields, lakes, and grasses, achieving scientific and systematic restoration.
The Sanxiwang mining area has steep terrain and harsh conditions, requiring manual transport of materials, making it extremely difficult. During the management process, in response to the characteristics of many points and a wide area with complex terrain, all parties worked together to form a 'multidisciplinary integration' cooperation mechanism of market collaboration, shared qualifications, information sharing, joint technology creation, and shared results, fully utilizing satellite remote sensing technology, high-altitude fixed-wing drone surveying technology, and low-altitude rotary-wing drone surveying technology, practicing an integrated exploration method of air, land, and space.
During interviews, reporters learned that the Sanxiwang mining area has conducted comprehensive management of historical ecological environmental issues through projects such as mountain body restoration from mining damage, water body restoration from mining damage, ecological restoration of forest and grassland occupied by mining, and farmland restoration from mining damage, eliminating geological disaster hazards, restoring damaged farmland, adding or restoring 2,500 acres of forest land, and adding or restoring 2,000 acres of grassland, focusing on creating a popular science area for mining relics at Laiziling, achieving biodiversity, and improving the ecological and living environment of the mining area.
At the same time, through river management, the water flow has become smoother, the riverbanks are relatively straight, the river channel is becoming more canalized, the overall roughness of the river channel has decreased, and the water flow speed has increased, maximizing the avoidance of flooding during the rainy season that could destroy and overflow existing river embankments and inundate adjacent land; through ecological restoration of land damaged by mining, about 650 acres of farmland have been restored, with an expected annual increase in rental income of about 600,000 yuan, and an annual increase in income from planting economic crops of about 10 million yuan.
Restoring a piece of land and water benefits the local people. Luo Zhiyong, deputy director of the Linwu County Natural Resources Bureau, stated that the implementation of the project has effectively improved the appearance of the mining area, which was once riddled with holes and filled with waste stones, transforming it into a lush, flower-filled popular science area for mining relics. The forest and grassland that were once covered by waste stones have regained vitality due to the planting of vegetation, and the land that was occupied by waste flows and waste slag has been restored and is being replanted with crops. The water bodies that were damaged by mining have been further restored, allowing the local people to drink clean spring water... The rise of green mining, agriculture, forestry, fruit farming, aquaculture, agricultural processing, and wind power generation has also provided a feasible path for the transformation and development of the local economy and society, improving the quality of life for local people and achieving good economic and social benefits.
The ecological restoration of the Sanxiwang mining area is a vivid practice of strengthening ecological civilization construction and a microcosm of the scientific and systematic restoration of abandoned mines. We firmly believe that as more and more abandoned mines are restored and reused, the ecological restoration of mines in our country will embark on a path of standardized and orderly development.
Website editor: Gong Li
