Global Times: Restoring lakes and surrounding landscapes helps strengthen northern China’s ecological security barrier

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Waterbirds floated on Daihai Lake, lowered their heads to feed and occasionally took wing across its surface. Even in late October, as the weather grew colder, the lake in Liangcheng county, Ulanqab, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, remained a feeding and resting place for birds.

"Many birds have already flown south," Yu Lei, deputy director of the county's Daihai Nature Reserve Service Center in Ulanqab, told the Global Times, pointing toward the water. 

Earlier this year, the reserve recorded something it had never documented before: oriental storks nesting and breeding locally. Two nests on high-voltage pylons produced six chicks, adding a breeding record for a nationally protected species to the lake's changing ecological history. 

The conditions supporting those nests have required work far beyond the shoreline. Around Ulanqab's lakes, restoration has extended into surrounding farmland, industrial facilities and neighboring regions, connecting wildlife protection with changes in how people use land and water.

Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed upholding a holistic and systematic approach to the conservation and improvement of mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, grasslands and deserts. During a recent inspection in Ulanqab, he called for promoting concerted efforts to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, expand green development and pursue economic growth, while unswervingly following the path of prioritizing ecological conservation and pursuing green development.

During a recent visit, the Global Times reporter found that coordinated restoration efforts were helping revive lakes and wetlands, bringing wildlife back and supporting new livelihoods for nearby communities in Ulanqab.