Since the announcement of Qunxing Capital's "100 million acres" artificial forestation plan, it is now in full swing.
On October 5, Tian Jiayi brought back a video of the geological survey data of the artificial forestation team of Qunxing Capital in the Northwest. This video was shot on the spot during the company's internal follow-up, including some field visits and expert group meetings.
At this moment, Fang Hong was sitting in the living room watching nearly fifty minutes of video material.
"There is water here, and we can basically tell that there is a shallow water layer below." A man's voice came from the video, and the picture played was of an expedition team conducting field exploration outdoors, in an area north of the upper reaches of the Yellow River Basin.
Desert area.
The inspection team used equipment to drill several meters deep into the ground at the site, and the excavated sand clearly contained moisture.
Artificial afforestation does not mean that you can plant trees if you have land. The key lies in whether there is groundwater. A fundamental basis for afforestation conditions in deserted areas is the presence of groundwater in shallow underground layers. The most serious problem in desertified areas is the huge amount of surface evaporation, which cannot be left on the surface.
Water-resisting.
But as long as there is groundwater, artificial afforestation can be carried out in the area. With large-scale artificial afforestation, under the large forest cover, surface evaporation can be reduced, thereby retaining water.
The inspection team in the video has been in the area for more than a month, drilling non-stop to confirm how much area the shallow water layer beneath this area covers, which is directly related to how much area the afforestation covers.
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It was finally confirmed that the shallow water layer in this area covers an area of about 700,000 acres.
There is not just one similar inspection team and expert group, but as many as hundreds of teams. They are conducting geological exploration in various sandy areas in the northwest of the country. This is the preliminary work of artificial forestation, that is, it is first necessary to confirm what kind of sand.
The land has the conditions for artificial afforestation.
As the video played, the screen switched to a seminar meeting of an expert group, and Fang Hong also crossed his legs and continued to watch without saying a word.
A middle-aged man in the video, who is a plant expert, said: "In this relatively extreme ecological environment, the probability of a tree growing naturally is actually very low. Generally speaking, it grows first
When a small tree bud grows on the ground, it may grow to a height of ten or twenty centimeters on the surface in the early stage."
"But its roots will always penetrate underground. The tree buds on the surface are more than ten centimeters high, but the roots can penetrate several meters deep. If the roots do not penetrate into the groundwater, they will dry up and die from time to time."
"So this requires a particularly suitable climate, such as continuous heavy rainfall over a certain period of time, to ensure that the tree will not die before its roots reach the underground water source, and can continue to root down, but this kind of continuous rainfall is very difficult.
It is rare to encounter, or even encounter, many naturally occurring Populus euphratica forests that are rare to encounter in a hundred years.”
The plant expert in the video continued: "Artificial afforestation is actually an unnatural intervention in this process. When the roots of the tree do not reach the underground water source, it is artificially watered regularly, so that it can continue to take root while alive.
During this period, make sure that the small tree buds on the ground are not eaten by animals until their roots reach the water source in the shallow underground aquifer."
"Although the buds of this tree are more than ten centimeters high now, as long as its roots penetrate into the shallow water source below, it can grow more than three meters high in a year, and it will become a big tree when it grows.
With the shading ability, the evaporation of nearby water will decrease. At this time, the grass under the trees will begin to grow. Under large-scale afforestation, a virtuous positive cycle ecosystem will gradually take shape."
Other participating experts spoke and discussed at the seminar, and everyone reached a consensus that the prerequisite for artificial afforestation to control desertification is that the sandy land must have a shallow water layer.
Only when it is determined that this sandy land has a shallow water layer can the surface environment be changed through artificial intervention.
The reason is also very simple. Only when there is a shallow water layer can you plant trees here. Even if there is no precipitation in the early stage, it does not matter. Each tree is watered regularly through manual intervention to ensure that the tree buds can survive.
In this way, the tree can continue to take root downwards until the roots reach the water source of the shallow underground water layer. At this time, there is no need to continue to water or even manage, and it will grow upward by itself.
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The growth of one or two trees will not have any impact or change on the local desertification environment, but at the same time, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions of trees are planted in this area. When they grow up, it will become a forest of greenery.
Big difference.
Every subsequent rainfall under the natural environment will retain most of the water. A part of the water seeps into the underground water layer and becomes groundwater. At the same time, most of the rainfall that should have been evaporated can be preserved on a large scale because of the shading of the forest.
When the environment changes from dry to humid, grass will grow under the big trees.
After that, animals will naturally migrate here, and as the grass on the ground grows, they can also engage in breeding, such as raising sheep, and the entire ecology will cycle.
At this time, in the seminar where the video was played, another geological expert said: "There is another potential problem that cannot be ignored."
Fang Hong took a sip of water, put down the water glass and still watched the seminar quietly. The geological expert continued: "We should avoid mineral-bearing areas, especially areas with mining. Our afforestation project will take a long time."
It takes a lot of time, and once it is invested, it cannot be recovered. If a nearby mine digs into the underground water layer, causing the underground water system to leak, it will be an ecological disaster for our forests."
"Especially when the water system in the shallow water layer leaks, it passes through some salt formations to the higher water layers, and the water changes from fresh water to salt water. This kind of water cannot allow the population to survive. Once the shallow water layer leaks, the surface of the water will
Trees will have to face irreversible death in large swaths, and it will be an irreversible ecological disaster, and all investment will be in vain."
"So my personal suggestion is that you should never afforestation in places with shallow water but where there is mining nearby. Even if there are mineral veins nearby but have not yet been mined, we should try to avoid them because you can't guarantee how long it will take in the future.
Will there be mining in the next year? Once the shallow water layer is dug out at the mining plant, all our efforts will be in vain."
After a while, another expert at the meeting said: "This is indeed a difficult problem. The problem is not the present but the unpredictability of the future."
Another participant said: "If we make this exclusion, then our available afforestation area will have to be greatly reduced. How can we complete the plan of hundreds of millions of acres? Moreover, groundwater systems often do not exist in a single place. The major shallow water systems are connected together.
It just happens in pieces."
The expert who participated in the previous meeting said: "Mining mining should have an environmental impact assessment, and mines with such potential hidden dangers should not be approved."
Another participant immediately said: "It's hard to say. As far as I know, there are still many mines that mine first and then supplement the certificate. Generally speaking, we have to understand this series of factors and clarify them."
, then report it to the parent company and let the people above make the decision."
