නිසරු බිමක් හරිත බිමක් කළ සන්ෂා වැසියෝ

Barren South China Sea island now 95 pct green

The once barren Yongxing Island, the seat of the government of Sansha City in south China's Hainan Province, now boasts a green coverage of 95 percent and is a national model for its rapid greening.

Chen Yanhua, deputy director of the city's Yongxing Working Committee and Management Committee, is responsible for environmental protection. He said eco-protection is indispensable to safeguarding sovereignty in the South

China Sea. "To protect the island is to protect the country and our homeland," he said.

Over the years, Chen and his colleagues have dedicated themselves to building the previous barren island into a green paradise.

"There was a large dumping ground in this place in the past, which ruined the environment of our island. After the city of Sansha was created, a comprehensive renewal project on islands and reefs was carried out right away. The first step was to restore the shoreline, followed by large-scale afforestation. Now the greening coverage of our Yongxing Island is more than 95 percent. Almost all the previously bare places are now covered with green vegetation," said Chen.

A special feature is the garden of acerola cherries on the island, which serves not only as a greening project but also as an economic one.

"This is our acerola cherry garden. It covers about 1,000 square meters. The cherry is rich in Vitamin C. In the past, many people on this island suffered from prolonged oral ulcers, and this fruit is good for them. We tried many experiments constantly, and found that once mixed with shredded coconut frond and coral sand plus red soil, it became very strong in sucking water. When mixed with sandy soil, it could retain moisture and completely change the soil," Chen said.

Yongxing has achieved zero discharge of wastewater. All the 550 tons of treated reclaimed water daily are used for greening.

"I need large quantities of water for landscaping. If I use desalinated seawater for it, the cost is too dearly. So, we've turned waste into treasure," said Chen.

The secret to the rapid greening is that almost the entire island is a nursery that has its own way of tree growing.

"There are two types of saplings in our nursery. One type is what we cultivate from the very seeds. But our focus is grafting. We cut off the twigs and then graft them. Their survival rate is really high," said Chen.

He added that more than 200,000 saplings have been cultivated over the past two years since the nursery was built.

Sansha City on Yongxing Island, one of the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, was founded in July 2012 to manage the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands, isles and waters. It is China's southernmost and least populated prefecture, with the smallest land area but the largest maritime territory. Sansha City has more than 280 islands, isles, submerged reefs and waters. Its land and water area is about two million square kilometers.

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