Recently, four departments including the Ministry of Natural Resources jointly issued a document proposing to strengthen ecological protection and restoration throughout the entire process of natural resource development and utilization, effectively implement the ecological restoration responsibilities and obligations of production and construction units, and extend ecological protection and restoration from the end stage to the source.

　　Ecological restoration generally refers to the use of relevant technologies to rebuild damaged or degraded ecosystems so that ecosystem functions are restored to or close to their original state. In the process of natural resource development and utilization, certain negative impacts will be produced on the surrounding ecological environment, and timely ecological restoration is an important measure for safeguarding the boundaries of natural ecological security and maintaining national ecological security. In recent years, China has made continuous efforts in ecological protection and restoration. Since the 13th Five-Year Plan, the area of important ecosystem restoration and treatment has exceeded 100 million mu. While addressing issues left over from history, in recent years China has placed greater emphasis on the approach of source control, avoiding the old path of "destroy first and restore later, pollute first and treat later," continuously promoting the construction of green mines and the "operation and treatment in parallel" of major engineering projects, reducing the ecological cost of development, and protecting lucid waters and lush mountains throughout the entire process.

　　"When building projects within protected areas, ecology must come first"

　　Ecological protection and restoration have gradually become "standard practice" in major engineering construction

　　The Gansu Anxi Extreme Arid Desert *** Nature Reserve is located in Guazhou County, Gansu Province. This area lacks water resources and has a fragile ecology, yet it supports many rare plants and plays an important role in maintaining regional ecological balance. After the West-East Gas Pipeline Phase IV project started construction, 64.6 kilometers of pipeline needed to pass through this reserve when crossing Gansu Province. On one side was an energy artery that had to be completed, and on the other was an ecological environment that had to be protected, which meant that the pipeline construction unit had to produce a green construction plan of a higher standard.

　　"When building projects within protected areas, ecology must come first." In the initial route selection stage, environmental protection became an important consideration for the pipeline construction party. According to the person in charge of the third bid section of the West-East Gas Pipeline Phase IV project of Sinopec Jianghan Oil Construction Engineering Co., Ltd., before construction, staff conducted detailed surveys of the geology, landforms, and vegetation distribution within the reserve through both on-site inspection and drone patrols, and successively discovered several concentrated growth areas of rare tree species and wetlands. To avoid damaging this precious ecological environment, the staff adjusted the pipeline position multiple times, yielding undisturbed space to the ecological environment.

　　Once construction began, environmental protection became an issue requiring attention at all times and in all places. Pipelines in other areas of the West-East Gas Pipeline generally are not far above the ground, but the pipeline in the Guazhou section of the Phase IV project was mounted on pipe supports more than 1.2 meters high, with the aim of leaving free passage for wildlife in the reserve. At the same time, to prevent the fragile surface in the reserve from being crushed by the heavy pressure of vehicles and generating dust, vehicles transporting pipes could only travel along the old pipeline patrol road after entering the reserve; even if the work area was right before their eyes, they could not take shortcuts or cross boundaries.

　　Green construction, designed biological corridors, preserved water source channels, and formulated special plans... In recent years, ecological protection and restoration have gradually become "standard practice" in the construction of some major projects, and maximizing resource conservation and minimizing negative environmental impacts have become increasingly common concepts.

　　The State Grid Qinghai-Henan ±800 kV UHV DC transmission project (hereinafter referred to as the "Qingyu Project") passes through the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Gannan uninhabited area, and the Qinling Mountains. Along its route are 7 *** and provincial key water and soil loss prevention areas and 6 key water and soil loss treatment areas, and it faces considerable ecological pressure during construction. In particular, the Hainan converter station of the line, located in Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, is in an alpine region where vegetation is difficult to survive and ecological restoration is very difficult.

　　"During construction of this section, our principle was to minimize disturbance to the alpine region, and we adopted a large number of temporary protection measures such as palm mats, steel plates, rigid fences, and turf stripping and maintenance to protect the plateau meadows and mountain areas," introduced Ji Xu, a relevant person in charge of the Infrastructure Department at the headquarters of State Grid Corporation of China. "For damage that could not be avoided, we also carried out ecological restoration. In response to the difficulty of vegetation survival, the Hainan converter station selected different types of grass seeds in advance and first found a test site to carry out vegetation restoration experiments, through which grass species adapted to the alpine conditions of the station site were selected."

　　According to reports, the terrain along the Qingyu Project consists mostly of high mountains, ridges, and deserts, and conventional transportation methods would damage local vegetation and ecology. For this reason, the Qingyu Project chose "low-altitude transportation." "Across the entire project, we set up a total of 851 freight cableways, with a cumulative length of about 910 kilometers. Although construction was rather troublesome, through this method we reduced road construction by 2,457 kilometers, which works out to equivalent reductions of 983 hectares of mountain damage, 7.37 million trees and shrubs cut, and 4.91 million cubic meters of spoil. From the perspective of environmental benefits, this is very worthwhile," said Ji Xu.

　　"Mine while restoring"

　　Bare "stone mountains" are once again clothed in "green"

　　Starting from the urban area of Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province, and heading northeast for about 11 kilometers, one arrives at the mining area of the Zhulan Iron Mine Branch of Pangang Group Mining Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Zhulan Iron Mine). When people mention mining areas, many people's first impression is bare mountains, flying dust, and rocks piled everywhere. But in the Jianshan area of Zhulan Iron Mine, people see a completely different scene: trees such as small-leaved banyan are lush and leafy, mountain flowers such as bougainvillea bloom in the wind, and the mountains appear verdant from afar. Birds such as the Chinese francolin, known locally as "jin gaga," as well as spotted doves and sparrows, have also made their homes here.

　　The Jianshan area includes two major spoil grounds, Jianshan and Xiaojiawan, and is one of several main concentrated waste rock disposal areas of Zhulan Iron Mine. Following the principles of "mining while restoring" and "not owing new ecological debts," Zhulan Iron Mine closed four spoil grounds, including the Jianshan spoil ground, several years ago and gradually began advancing ecological restoration. Before restoration, the Jianshan area was still a bare "stone mountain" where grass could not grow and animals could not stay. Today, vegetation coverage here has reached 90%.

　　Yang Hai, a staff member at Zhulan Iron Mine, told reporters that in carrying out ecological restoration of spoil grounds, the first problems faced were the large elevation differences, steep slopes, insufficient soil sources, and poor soil quality. The second was the dry climate of the dry season. To improve plant survival rates, restoration personnel first reshaped the revegetation sites, creating platforms accessible to personnel and equipment and slopes that could be naturally covered with soil, then covered the surface with soil and built irrigation pipe networks and drainage facilities to prevent rainwater from washing away topsoil and vegetation on the slopes. In selecting plants for revegetation, tree species with drought tolerance and relatively developed root systems were chosen according to the local climate, and herbaceous plants, trees, and shrubs were planted in an intercropping pattern.

　　In the process of ecological restoration in the mining area, some slopes were unsuitable for reshaping and had relatively steep angles. For the restoration of such slopes, Zhulan Iron Mine adopted some special methods. "In the early stage, we first stabilized the slope, and afterward carried out hydroseeding. This method involves many procedures, but it can effectively solve the problem of revegetating slopes that are narrow in space, have large bench heights, and do not meet the conditions for slope cutting and bench reduction," said Yang Hai.

　　Green mining is not simply about mining area restoration and revegetation. In the face of ecological protection, mining areas must not only adhere to "mining while restoring" but also to "protecting during operation and operating during protection," optimize mining methods and mining design, adopt green and low-carbon construction methods, and reduce pollution from the source of production.

　　Yang Hai said that in recent years, in order to reduce various types of waste emissions during mining, Zhulan Iron Mine has adopted many energy-saving and carbon-reducing measures. "We developed a high-efficiency iron-bearing waste rock rejection process technology and built an integrated technology of waste rock recovery from active spoil grounds, internal disposal of waste residue, and ecological restoration. These technologies can optimize the utilization of mining resources and reduce solid waste emissions from the source. For dust particles, dust collection ports are installed at dust-generating points on production lines, and dust is centrally collected into facilities and filtered with specialized cloth bags, supporting the green development of the mine."

　　"Close to the sea" without "encroaching on the sea"

　　Coastline restoration designed and implemented in parallel with sea-related projects

　　Blue skies and green trees, clear seas and silver beaches, and flocks of gulls and egrets... Walking along the Eastern Coastal Romantic Tourism Route in Xiamen, Fujian Province, the scenery of Tong'an Bay comes fully into view.

　　The Eastern Coastal Romantic Tourism Route is located along the coastal front of the Eastern Sea Area and embraces Tong'an Bay, China's largest urban inner bay. In 2017, Xiamen launched the construction of a coastal ecological new city and simultaneously began construction of the Eastern Coastal Romantic Tourism Route, planning to use it to create an industrial belt combining "culture + sports + tourism."

　　During construction, guided by the development concept of being "close to the sea" without "encroaching on the sea," Xiamen insisted on designing and implementing coastline restoration measures in parallel with the Eastern Coastal Romantic Tourism Route project, reducing damage to the ocean and shoreline resources through measures such as artificial beach restoration, vegetation protection, and ecological revetments.

　　Beach restoration was the first step. "We regarded sea area dredging and the creation of forestable tidal flats as an organic whole," said Yu Hongbo, chief engineer of Xiamen Municipal Urban Development and Construction Co., Ltd. During dredging, the construction team used sluice gates to create a dry-land environment, avoiding the spread of pollutants into the sea and minimizing the impact of dredging on the marine environment. The dredged silt was turned from waste into a resource and used to create forestable tidal flats behind the shoreline of the inner bay, where plants such as Kandelia obovata, Aegiceras corniculatum, and Bruguiera gymnorhiza were planted, achieving an organic unity of ecological and scenic effects. After several years of restoration, a mangrove ecological shoreline has been formed in Tong'an Bay.

　　Beyond tidal flats, Xiamen also restored several kilometers of artificial beaches along the coast with an average width of more than 100 meters. The restored beaches are connected with the original natural beaches, enhancing coastal disaster prevention and mitigation capacity while beautifying the seaside scenery.

　　During the restoration process, how to select green vegetation species became a difficult problem for the construction team. In coastal waterfront areas, soil salinization is severe. Under such conditions, how can both the ecological and scenic value of greening be taken into account? "Through in-depth analysis of natural conditions such as coastal climate, hydrology, and soil, we proposed a solution of 'zoning planting and matching trees to sites,' and practice has shown good results," said Yu Hongbo. Zoning planting means dividing the greening area into first-line and second-line coastal zones. In the first-line coastal zone, wind-resistant and salt-alkali-tolerant native tree species such as banyan, Casuarina equisetifolia, Terminalia mantaly, and Hibiscus tiliaceus are planted, thereby providing ecological support for the planting effects of flowering communities and other plants in the second-line coastal zone. In this way, visitors strolling along the shaded paths can always enjoy flowers corresponding to the season, and the "Romantic Route" truly lives up to its name.

　　In addition to beaches and walkways, the spaced groynes are also gathering places for local residents and sightseeing tourists. Besides enhancing the charm of the shoreline, groynes, as an important component of coastal protection works, can also change the hydrodynamic conditions of seawater in the bay, playing a role in sand stabilization and marine ecological protection. Yu Hongbo introduced that the revetment construction of the Eastern Coastal Romantic Tourism Route adopted ecological and natural revetment designs such as sloped and vegetated revetments, avoiding large-scale excavation and filling and minimizing disturbance to the natural coastline. At the same time, in combination with natural landforms, the use of hard materials was reduced to further enhance the ecological benefits of the revetment.

　　Not long ago, four departments including the Ministry of Natural Resources jointly issued a document proposing to strengthen ecological protection and restoration in all stages of project sea and island use and to minimize the damage and cost of sea-related projects to ocean and shoreline resources. In recent years, Xiamen has successively issued more than 10 sea-related regulations, including the Provisions of Xiamen Municipality on the Administration of Sea Area Use, setting out rules on the rational development, governance, and protection of sea areas and on the ecological protection obligations of marine users. As relevant policies are implemented, the blue picture of harmonious coexistence between people and the sea and sustainable marine development is constantly being renewed and extended.