| | | 60 | | 60 years of transformation: From barren sandstone to lush orchards | 60 | | Today, through a series of old and new photographs, we bear witness to the remarkable | ecological transformation that has taken place over the past 60 years in a number of arsenic | sandstone areas once dubbed "Earth's cancer". | | | | 6 | | | | In the lush month of June, stepping into the apple orchards of Desheng Youliang village in | Nuanshui township, Juungar Banner, verdant scenes greet the eye. Laden branches bear | clusters of hefty fruit, as apple trees thrive on the arsenic sandstone. | | | | 60 | | | | Six decades ago, this landscape was desolate, plagued by severe soil erosion and barren | lands, making life unbearable for farmers. Hua Shengming, a resident of Desheng Youliang | village, recalls, "My grandfather and father used to grow prosomillet, sorghum, potatoes, and | corn on the arsenic sandstone, but almost every year, the harvest was meager." | | 2700 | 320 | | | In the 1990s, the first apple tree was planted on the arsenic sandstone area in Nuanshui | township, and today, 2,700 mu (180 hectares) of apple orchards thrive on this once barren | land. Last year, the apple yield in Nuanshui township reached 1.6 million kilograms, with | annual incomes exceeding tens of thousands of yuan for nearly a hundred fruit growers. | Apples have become the "fruit of prosperity" for locals. | | | | | 7692 | 5807 | | Situated at the "几"-shaped bend of the Yellow River, Juungar suffers from severe soil | erosion. The arsenic sandstone areas in Juungar account for 5,807 square kilometers of the | region's total 7,692 sq km. | | | | | | | | In the 1950s and 1960s, Juungar began initiating ecological sand control measures. | Through sea buckthorn planting, construction of silt dams on the Loess Plateau, and small | watershed comprehensive management projects, Juungar heralded a new era in arsenic | sandstone governance. | | | | | | | | | | According to Liu Jun, senior engineer from Juungar's water conservancy development | center, after decades of exploration, Juungar has established a three-tiered governance | model for arsenic sandstone control. | At the hilltops of the loess ridge area, horizontal ditches and fish-scale pits have been | implemented and tree groves planted; on the slopes, horizontal terraces have been | introduced, cultivating apple trees and economic forests; in the trench bottoms and channels, | flexible barriers made of sea buckthorn, silt dams, and sand interception projects have been | implemented. | Through the layered defense of the three-tier system, a comprehensive governance structure | has been established, creating localized microclimates and significantly improving the | ecological environment. | | | | 60 61.8％ | | After more than 60 years, 61.8 percent of the arsenic sandstone areas in Juungar have | been effectively managed, setting a shining example for arsenic sandstone governance | across the Yellow River region. | | | |