Anji county makes progress in water, soil conservation

Tea farmer Li Baocheng has witnessed notable progress in soil and water conservation in Anji county, Zhejiang province, over the past 15 years.

"Compared with last year, the yield of white tea this year has increased by nearly 1 kilogram per mu (0.067 hectare) on average, with its quality significantly improved," said Li.

Anji county, a mountainous area in northwestern Zhejiang province that suffered from serious soil erosion until about 10 years ago, has seen significant changes in its environment as well as economic development since a number of key projects were carried out, according to Mei Mingxing, head of Tangshe village in Anji.

Anji has carried out comprehensive management of soil and water conservation, and simultaneously implemented ecological restoration of cash crops such as bamboo forests, chestnut forests and white tea.

By the end of 2020, more than 150 million yuan ($23.5 million) has been invested, with remediation of more than 50 small watersheds completed, and more than 5,300 hectares of bamboo forests, chestnut forests and white tea trees in the reservoir source area restored.

"Our county's soil and water conservation rate has risen from 84.5 percent in 2000 to 94.2 percent in 2020. Forests now cover more than 70 percent of the county, and both the surface water and drinking water have now reached the highest standards," said Liu Kejun, head of the Water and Soil Conservation Management Station of Anji County Water Conservancy Bureau.

Xu Kan, chief engineer of Anji County Water Conservancy Bureau, said that Anji county has explored a new road for the development of soil and water conservation with its remediation and ecological restoration measures, such as reconstructing vegetation, constructing sand dams and developing rural tourism.

Since 2015, Anji has also actively explored the role of technology for integrated supervision in Zhejiang.

"Through satellite remote sensing, unmanned aerial vehicles and other technologies, the whole process of dynamic supervision of violations of related laws and regulations has been realized, which has also greatly improved the efficiency of supervision," said Liu.

"Based on the interpretation and analysis of soil erosion by satellite remote sensing, the location, intensity and area of soil erosion can be accurately found in time. Therefore, targeted projects can be carried out to solve the existing problems of soil erosion," Liu told China Daily.