With its clear running rivers, healthy fruit trees and golden rice fields, the Xiyang River Valley of Fujian Province makes such a pastoral picture today that it is hard for visitors to imagine what it was like 20 years ago.
Before the late 1960s, the valley was richly forested, but excessive felling led to soil erosion and undermined the ecological balance, according to Xinhua news agency.
As a result the villagers sank into poverty, most fell into debt and the fields produced little grain.
A day's heavy rain would cause flooding, but after three sunny days, the fields would crack for want of water, the farmers recalled.
They also recalled a rainstorm in the summer of 1985, which lasted for two hours and was followed by torrents of water. Most fields and river embankments were destroyed, causing heavy economic losses to the farmers.
However, only two weeks after the water subsided, a drought hit 80 percent of the land and some farmers had to migrate to find a living, they said.
Those who stayed began to realize the importance of ecological balance.
In 1987, villagers began making plans to preserve soil and water and cultivate more trees on the hillsides.
By the late 1990s their efforts had paid off. Forest coverage in the river valley increased from 59.9 percent to 75.6 percent. Soil erosion was reduced by 85 percent.
Improved ecological management helped the river valley to withstand major natural disasters, including floods in 1992, 1994 and 1998, and a drought in 1993.
Today, the valley boasts more than 100 hectares of farmland, which produces grain, tobacco and vegetables. Once-eroded mountains are covered with fruit trees.
Lumbering is no longer the only industry in the valley. Environmentally friendly industries are booming, including animal husbandry and a hydraulic-power industry.
Last year, the total annual agricultural output in the region increased from US$160,000 in 1986 to US$887,000, up 450 percent.
Meanwhile, the farmers' net average annual income climbed 410 percent to US$333.
Xiyang River is a branch of the Minjiang River, a major tributary of the Yangtze.
The Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Finance honored the Xiyang River Valley as "a valley with an exemplary ecologically balanced environment," in May this year.
(eastday.com November 8, 2001)
