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Renewed focus on ecology
By Wang Hui (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-06-12 09:54
A friend of mine, a native of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, expressed
disappointment during a recent conversation about the environmental crisis in
the Tuojiang River, which runs through his hometown.
"When I was young the river was very limpid and full of various kinds of
fish," he said.
However, when my friend returned in the 1990s, the river was no longer clean
although some resilient fish did manage to survive in the foul water. Pollutants
discharged from factories and residential areas along the river had turned the
water deep green and given it a disagreeable odor.
Sadly, the Tuojiang River, which feeds China's main shipping artery, the
Yangtze, was dealt another heavy blow in February and March when a nearby
chemical plant dumped lethal waste water containing synthetic ammonia and
nitrogen into the Wenjiang section of its upper reaches.
After the tragedy was exposed by media in late March, the once obscure
tributary became the focus of nationwide attention. The serious pollution
allegedly affected 1 million people, blackened the water and killed an estimated
60,000 kilograms of aquatic life.
The government was quick to root out the perpetrators, who have been punished
either by administrative measures or by law. Meanwhile the plant was heavily
fined.
However, the ecosystem in the river basin may never be restored, my friend
sighed bitterly.
I could easily understand his sadness. I was raised in my hometown, a
beautiful place in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, where the Hanjiang River
is within a comfortable distance. The river has left an indelible mark in my
memory with its ample and refreshing water that seemed to extend to the horizon
in my youthful eyes.
Regrettably, that tantalizing scene no longer exists because continuous
damage done by human activities narrowed the river course and devastated its
vegetation.
The plights of the Tuojiang and Hanjiang rivers mirror a dilemma that most of
China's water systems are still facing today.
Some equate the situation to the inevitable price a country must pay to
develop. There may be some truth in that, but it should no longer be used as a
ready excuse for continuing our ignorance of environmental protection. After
all, the country has paid too dear a price for sacrificing environment for
economic benefits.
Recent years have witnessed so many environmental woes that they may require
the efforts of generations to rectify. And some of the damage may never be
remedied.
Worsening air quality, dwindling water resources, increasing acreage of
barren lands, desert expansion and frequent sand storms are just a few of the
scourges that threaten people's health and dampen our efforts to create a better
world for all.
Given the seriousness of the country's environmental troubles, it was no
surprise that last month when a piece of false news identifying Beijing as one
of the world's least-habitable cities barely caused a stir.
Still, a piece of credible news should make everyone shudder. Niu Wenyuan, an
expert with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, revealed late last month that about
18 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) has been achieved at
the expense of excessive exploitation of resources and ecological degradation.
If we do not re-examine our concept of development and make timely
adjustments that shore up environmental concerns, we may not be able to leave a
sustainable world to our future generations.
Admittedly, awareness about environmental protection has been on the rise
among the public and government officials. The country has made strenuous
efforts to check the worsening tendency of environmental degradation in the
Ninth Five-Year Plan period (1996-2000).
Since then, much has been done to make the air fresher, the sky bluer and
rivers less polluted. Take air pollution as an example. More and more cities,
though at a slow pace, are meeting air quality standards set by the State.
Official statistics indicate 142 of the 340 monitored cities, or 41.7 per cent,
saw their air quality reach the national standard - an increase of 7.9
percentage points from 2002.
Now a resident of Beijing, I am grateful for the steadily improving air
quality in the city. The long-time-no-see blue skies and fresh air have come
back and days with good air quality are accumulating on an annual basis.
In a mandate made public on Monday,municipal authorities urged 28 heavy
polluters to further lower their emissions so that citizens can have more
fresh-air days this year.
However, against this rosy picture, there is the worrisome phenomenon that
while some achievements have been made, new problems continue to crop up.
This may shed light on the annual report on environmental conditions issued
by the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), the country's
environmental watchdog. For three consecutive years since 2001, the report has
used similar wording to describe the overall situation as being basically at the
same level of the previous year. This should not mask the truth that the
hard-won achievements accumulated throughout the year to better our environment
have been offset by newly emerged hurdles.
Condition of the nation's major rivers, as described in the SEPA report,
offers another explanation for this dilemma. Among the country's seven major
rivers, pollution in the Haihe, Liaohe and Huaihe waterways slightly lessened,
while the Songhua River and the Pearl River were even more polluted.
As pointed out by many, insufficient funding from the government, slackened
awareness, weak law enforcement and a lenient approach to punishment in
deterring wrongdoers have all added to the difficulty in making greater strides
in environmental protection.
Take the Tuojiang case as an example. The polluter was fined 1 million
yuan (US$120,000). This certainly will do little to deter followers, neither
will it remedy the huge direct economic loss estimated to be 300 times the
amount of the penalty.
Nonetheless, it is the government's recent call for a scientific approach to
development and the promotion of a circular economy that has prescribed a cure
for rooting out the crux of our country's environmental problems.
It is an undeniable fact that human activities now pose the greatest
challenge to our environment. Hence, to protect the environment, we human beings
should change our way of thinking and style of living.
A scientific conception of development stresses development should be
comprehensive, co-ordinated and sustainable instead of purely in pursuit of GDP
growth while a circular economy advocates the most efficient use of resources
and the most effective protection of the environment.
We need to both adjust our route to development and elevate our activities
and behaviours to the standards that will facilitate environment conservation.
With the scientific perspective of development taking root in people's hearts
and crystallizing in their voluntary actions, I hope not only the Tuojiang and
Hanjiang rivers but our entire ecosystem will one day take on a whole new
look.
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