Aerial photo taken on Sept 22, 2017 shows the scenery of the Saihanba forest in North China's Hebei province. [Photo/Xinhua] SHIJIAZHUANG -- Forest rangers in northern China's Saihanba Forest Farm recently received a prestigious UN environment award. On Tuesday, Saihanba afforestation community in Inner Mongolia scooped the UN Champions of the Earth Award for its outstanding contribution to restoration of degraded landscapes. As an ordinary worker at the farm, I am immensely encouraged by the award, said fire-lookout Zhao Fuzhou. The award should be credited to three generations of foresters, said Zhao Zhenyu, 78, one of Saihanba's first foresters, who began planting trees on what was then a piece of barren land in the early 1960s. After decades of hard work, Saihanba is now a vast forest covering about 93,000 hectares and an important ecological shield for Beijing and Tianjin. Every year the forest in Saihanba purifies 137 million cubic meters of water and delivers half a million tons of oxygen. Fifty-five years of afforestation efforts tell us that when one generation of foresters after another spares no efforts to improve the environment they will succeed, Zhao Zhenyu said. Erik Solheim, executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), hailed Saihanba community for its pioneering innovation, saying that cost effective grassroots initiatives could reclaim degraded landscapes. The Saihanba afforestation community has transformed degraded land into lush green paradise -- part of a new Great Wall of vegetation that will play a part in helping protect millions from air pollution and preserving precious water supplies, Solheim said. The international acclaim has made Saihanba's foresters feel that they shoulder greater responsibilities in afforestation to contribute to a greener world. Winning acknowledgement from UNEP marked a new starting point for our work, and we will redouble our efforts to take good care of the green treasure, said An Changming, deputy Party chief of the Saihanba Forest Farm. In 2016, the restored forest in Saihanba stimulated green sectors of the economy, generating an estimated 15.1 million U.S. dollars. Looking ahead, foresters at the farm are aiming to unleash greater potential of the forest in areas such as tourism, wind power, and carbon trading, bringing more ecological, social and economic benefits to residents in the region and beyond. design your own wristbandwristband keychainbat fidget spinnercustom rubber band braceletsblack rubber bracelets
The house is charred after a fire. [Photo/VCG] Police in Jiangsu province said they have arrested an arson suspect after a fire that engulfed a house claimed 22 lives on Sunday morning. The fire broke out about 4:30 am in a two-story residential house in Yushan, a town in Changshu, leaving 22 people dead and three others injured, none of whom had life-threatening wounds. Seventy-one firefighters and 14 firetrucks were dispatched and the blaze was extinguished by 5:30 am. According to the Jiangsu Provincial Public Security Department, traces of gasoline were found at the scene and all the doors of the building were locked from the outside. Police identified a suspect, surnamed Jiang, by analyzing the scene and surveillance cameras around the building. Police said the suspect bad been taken into custody, but they released no further information. Twenty-four teams with psychologists, legal experts and civil administration workers were sent to help relatives of the victims and the injured. The State Administration of Work Safety dispatched a team to Changshu for investigation. The administration ordered the provincial work safety department to cooperate with the Changshu government in aiding the injured and determining the cause of the fire. Jiangsu's Party chief Li Qiang and Wu Zhenglong, acting governor, hurried to Changsu to assist. Li said at a news conference in the city on Sunday that information on the fire will be released to the public as soon as possible. According to local residents, the building served as a dormitory for employees of Siage Private Dishes Restaurant. Twenty-nine employees, including cooks and waiters, had lived in the 200-square-meter building for more than two years. Most of the dead were in their 20s and had left their hometowns to find work in Changshu. Five burn wound specialists have been sent to the local hospital to help treat the injured. An investigation of the fire is under way. [email protected]
