Recently, at the construction site of the Tengqiao River ecological buffer zone and ecological corridor project in Sanya City, workers are carrying out construction in an intense and orderly manner on both sides of the river, with machinery roaring, presenting a busy scene.

　　According to reports, in response to the problem that the Tengqiao River, its wetlands and surrounding production and living areas lack transitional buffer zones, with pollutants mostly entering the water body directly, posing huge challenges to the ecological security and water quality assurance of the Tengqiao River, this project, based on the river's course and existing ecological baseline, will build 15—30 meter ecological buffer zones on both sides of the Tengqiao River, using native tree species to create an ecological space combining trees, shrubs and grasses, unblocking regional ecological corridors and enhancing the ecological functions of the Tengqiao River. The project is scheduled to be completed in December next year.

　　This is a vivid microcosm of Sanya's full-speed advancement of the integrated protection and restoration project of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands and deserts in the typical tropical region of southern Hainan (hereinafter referred to as the "Southern Mountains-Rivers Project").

　　The Southern Mountains-Rivers Project is the third batch of projects supported by the central government's "14th Five-Year Plan" fiscal funds, approved for Hainan Province in June 2023. The project involves five cities and counties—Sanya, Wuzhishan, Ledong, Lingshui and Baoting—with an implementation area of 5,868.62 square kilometers. A total of 36 engineering projects and 1 project for enhancing the integrated monitoring and assessment capacity of the entire regional ecosystem have been set up, dedicated to achieving overall protection and systematic governance of the regional ecological environment and creating a new paradigm for the restoration of the tropical land-sea community of life.

　　Among the 36 sub-projects of the Southern Mountains-Rivers Project, Sanya accounts for 22, with wide coverage and rich content.

　　To this end, Sanya has established a municipal-level dedicated task force, with a task force office and six working groups under it: project and fund review and supervision, forest quality and coastal zone enhancement, water ecological protection and restoration, farmland ecological function enhancement, and technical guidance, with each clearly defining its responsibilities and division of work. A reverse-schedule advancement plan for the city's 22 sub-projects has been formulated, with operations charted on the wall, timely understanding of project progress and existing problems, and coordinated advancement of project implementation.

　　At present, Sanya has started construction on 12 sub-projects of the Southern Mountains-Rivers Project. "We have also selected five projects as city-level demonstration projects, including the Tengqiao River ecological buffer zone and ecological corridor construction project, the Tengqiao River basin farmland ecosystem pattern optimization and quality improvement project, the Banling Reservoir water source area ecological protection and restoration project, the Nanfan Base core area farmland ecosystem pattern optimization and quality improvement project, and the Tianya District ecological restoration and biodiversity enhancement project, hoping to play a typical leading role, driving other projects to overcome difficulties together, making concerted efforts, and completing project tasks with quality and quantity guaranteed according to the time nodes," said a relevant person in charge of Sanya City.