Chapter 188 The Volunteer Association's Small WebsiteGuo Yang really wanted the big boss to hear the account that Old Man Ding had made. Now, both the county and the city are waiting for the Shiyang River Basin Planning Program to be approved by the State Council, hoping for funding from higher authorities. The official desertification control efforts are very limited. Although the Yellow River water can be transferred to the Hongyashan Reservoir through the Jingdian Phase II every year, the wells upstream are still indiscriminately irrigating high-water-consuming crops such as corn and cotton. The water surface was as bright as a mirror. The strong wind vents of the two major deserts downstream are also mostly blocked by the grass grids and Haloxylon ammodendron forests of the sea of sand, but the use of machine-driven wells to pump groundwater along the way is still common. To put it bluntly, these are all holding us back. No matter how much water is diverted from the Yellow River, it will be difficult to restore the groundwater level. The solution is to vigorously promote solar greenhouses throughout the basin. There has to be more power coming in.
Moreover, promoting the development of greenhouses will also bring great benefits to the sand sea. There are 143 million mu of arable land in the Qingtu Lake area alone, of which less than 20 mu are planted, and the rest are deserts and saline-alkali beaches. Together with other towns and urban areas, there is a large amount of land that can be used to build greenhouses. Now that you have a greenhouse, you need to buy vegetable seedlings, right? Subsequent desert plant seedlings and forage grass seeds can also take advantage of the opportunity to make profits, and a positive cycle of the sand sea is formed. Guo Yang talked with others for a while, then went with Lu Hanbin to see the Cistanche inoculation. He also brought the seeds, which were directly inoculated on three-year-old Haloxylon ammodendron trees, and the yield would be higher. Although I have some expectations for the Cistanche deserticola in the seed store, such as how much the medicinal effect is enhanced and whether it can make men have sex every night, I have to wait two or three years to pick it. Guo Yang also took the opportunity to visit the project departments in each area. Some are newly built, and some are renovations on indigenous houses. The conditions are indeed average. However, Guo Yang did not say anything. As the conditions were favorable for agriculture, he arranged for extra meals for the employees, bought some supplies, and then returned to the base. Lu Hanbin is busy now. The leader is coming, so the face-saving project within the sand sea area must be done well to reflect the value of the enterprise. Guo Yang stayed in the office to look at the materials. People from the county government also sent me invitations, and I had to go for a social event in the evening. And family members also have to get together to have a meal. There are quite a lot of things to do. …… Han Xuesong's hometown was once called "Artemisia Beach" because of its abundant water resources and artemisia everywhere. The old people in the village said that seventy or eighty years ago, there were rivers crisscrossing the village, with water flowing all year round. There was also a large poplar forest along the rivers. In autumn, the leaves of the poplar forest turned red and yellow, which was very beautiful. There are many Chaiwans on the edge of the village, with tall and short trees and wormwood such as poplar, saxaul, and red willow growing on them.
In the 90s, as prices rose, people were forced to open up wasteland and grow black melon seeds to make a living. Even government departments and enterprises have begun to enclose land and build farms. Since then, the oasis turned into a desert, the former Artemisia Beach was occupied by yellow sand, and the devil of the desert was released from its cage and became more and more unscrupulous. In 93, the area was hit by a black storm, which killed 50 people, injured 153 people, and damaged countless crops and houses. The most common phrase he heard when he was a child was, "If you don't go to school, you can stay here in the sand and farm!" So he passed the exam and went to Chuncheng. If it hadn't been for that incident, he would probably still be working in pharmaceutical sales in Chuncheng. That year, China Television broadcast the TV program "Waterless Oasis", and the news report predicting that Minqin was about to disappear and become the second Lop Nur was horrifying. This small northwestern city was pushed to the forefront of public opinion. When seeing the news, Han Jiesong was stunned. He would rather believe that the news was not true, so he began to search for information on the Internet. “Why don’t people in Minqin protect the ecology?” “Why should we cultivate land, destroy vegetation, and make the whole nation eat sand?” He felt very depressed. As the locals faced accusations, the village became increasingly short of water, leading to a survival crisis. He began to go to the Internet cafe whenever he had free time, check posts about Minqin, desertification and the like, and write some posts on the forum based on his feelings. Like those who care about Minqin, Han Jiesong accidentally broke into the Save Minqin website and made a group of friends. Everyone set up a QQ group. The group owner returned to Minqin many times to take photos. Some young people who love their hometown collected a lot of information on how to save their hometown. He also resigned this year and returned to Lanzhou to be closer to home. At the same time, he also became good friends with Ma Tao, the founder of Save Minqin Network and the group leader, and the two worked together to maintain the operation of Save Minqin Network. We are even planning to set up a volunteer association. On this day, Han Jiesong, as usual, took advantage of his break from work to surf the Internet. "If the Minqin Oasis disappears and the two deserts merge, it will form a square kilometer desert, the second largest desert in China, which will directly threaten the security of the Hexi Corridor, a strategic passage in the west." "To put it simply, if Minqin is not protected, Hexi will not be protected; if Hexi is not protected, China will be endangered." "The solution to the desertification problem in Minqin still depends on the government. We don't have the ability and can't do it. It's a thankless task." "Without action there is no beginning, and if we keep discussing like this forever there will be no result." "Tell me, when will the volunteer association be established? I want to go and plant Haloxylon ammodendron trees." "If you can plant as many trees as you can, then plant them. Only if you work hard, you won't regret it." "Yes, everyone should chip in some money and try it out first to see if it works." "Yes, the forum has received a lot of response. More and more environmentalists are paying attention to us, and society is also paying attention. We can raise funds at any time."
Just as everyone was enthusiastically offering suggestions and making plans, a mocking post appeared on the simple website. "Beep, beep, beep, you are a bunch of psychopaths. All you do is yell on the Internet all day long. Someone has already planted tens of thousands of acres of Haloxylon ammodendron trees in the northern part of the lake area." "???" "is that a lie!" "MD, where did you get in to cause trouble?" Han Jiesong was also typing quickly on the keyboard. Their small website had been established for more than half a year, and the number of registered members had exceeded 500, and the number of visiting IP addresses was as high as to . Most of them are young people from Minqin, and occasionally there are some provocative elements mixed in. "Tens of thousands of acres? The last time I went back I saw the desert approaching the village again?" "I heard from people back home that there was another extremely severe sandstorm in April." "Brother, stop daydreaming. I often dream about the desert turning into an oasis." "Where is the person? Gone?" "Ignore him, he's just an idiot." after awhile. "You are a bunch of idiots who can only talk nonsense on the Internet. All the photos you take are in the village. Have you been to the northern part of the lake area? A big company came there and directly blocked the big wind outlet, blocking the middle of the two deserts." Han Jiesong saw the man show up again and asked quickly. "Hasn't there been no one in the northern part of the lake for a long time?" "The people moved away three years ago. Where would the people come from to plant the trees?" “No picture, no truth.” But no matter how the netizens called out, the man was silent. "Where's the group leader?" "Go back and have a look again!" Han Jiesong replied, "Still at work." "..." “Can we get this volunteer association off the ground?” "Everyone has a job, and no one lives in Minqin yet. When we really organize an event in the future, there will be too much administrative work to maintain the website, raise funds, recruit volunteers, and answer inquiries from sponsors..." "You're saying these discouraging words again. I'm in Shanghai, planning my first volunteer activity and bringing my kids back to plant trees." "Reclaiming wasteland and planting crops is a punishment from nature." Seeing that everyone was about to quarrel again, Han Jiesong typed, "I am going to resign and devote myself full-time to the sand control and tree control activities."
"Brother, don't be impulsive!" "We're just grumbling." "You've returned to Lan City from Chuncheng. Just go back every now and then to take some photos and post them on the station." "Yeah, we finally escaped, why would we go back?" Han Jiesong replied: "Someone needs to step up. I will be supported by you guys from now on." Netizens are still advising him to be cautious. "I will go back tomorrow to see if there are really many Haloxylon ammodendron trees planted in the northern part of the lake area." "Damn it, are you serious?" Han Jiesong actually quit his job at the pharmaceutical factory and agreed with Ma Tao that he would go back first to survey where to plant the trees. Minqin has an area of square kilometers and nearly 2400 million mu of land, most of which is desert and sandy areas. It would definitely be more appropriate to choose the location in the hometown village. But he decided to go to the northern part of the lake first, which was closer to the center of Sand Wo. A motorcycle was driving on the road in the early morning, passing through one abandoned village after another. On the road, on a saline-alkali beach, we saw a series of greenhouses and immigration sites. This surprised him greatly. This should be the immigration point closest to the edge of the desert! After Han Jiesong returned to his hometown, he saw related reports in the local newspaper. There is actually a sand control enterprise in Qingtu Lake Sand District, and it has been almost 3 years. Although the nameless netizen was harsh, his complaints were well-founded. Although this group of wanderers far away from home were full of enthusiasm, sometimes they acted like they were playing house. The closer they got to their destination, the more surprised Han Jiesong was. The lake area is still dilapidated, but there is little sandstorm. There seem to be signs of reclamation on the abandoned farmland. Is it because the immigrants left and couldn't adapt, so they came back? After the motorcycle passed through the last village, suddenly, clusters of green came into view from afar. That is the saxaul, which looks like an armored guard squatting proudly on the golden sand, adding a bit of dignity. The saxaul here are not lone heroes living in isolation in the desert and fighting alone. Their skin is not cracked, nor do they have the vicissitudes of life that show heroic and resoluteness. Instead, it is the newly born green, which gathers together in patches to form a green forest belt, blocking the desert erosion on both sides. The clear clouds are rippling, and the fragrant breeze is stirring. The lush scenery stunned Han Jiesong for a long time. When the wind blew, the fine sand blew into his eyes, and then he came to his senses. With tears in the corners of his eyes, he smiled happily and took one photo after another, continuing along the winding sandy road. The green seemed to extend to the horizon. After returning. He couldn't wait to post the photos one by one on the Internet. (End of this chapter)