Recently, in Shuangquan Village, Kaicheng Town, Yuanzhou District, Guyuan City, the morning sunlight spilled over the clean and tidy courtyards, and the well-arranged gardens, vegetable plots, and orchards in front of and behind the houses were lush and green. On one side of the village road, a 48-mu special industry demonstration park had also begun to take shape after the construction and renovation of high-standard farmland.
　　Since last September, with the advancement of the Liupanshan "Mountain and Water Project" construction project, the first-phase project progress of Shuangquan Village and three other villages under the jurisdiction of Kaicheng Town has reached 70%. A series of "renovation and upgrading" efforts, including gully consolidation, pipeline laying, and cave dwelling renovation, have been steadily advanced. Not only has the local countryside's "appearance" been greatly improved, but the ecological environment has also benefited a great deal.
　　In June 2023, the Ningxia Yellow River Basin Liupanshan Ecological Function Zone Integrated Protection and Restoration Project for Mountains, Rivers, Forests, Farmland, Lakes, Grasslands, and Deserts was successfully declared and selected in the third batch of national integrated protection and restoration projects for mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes, grasslands, and deserts under the "14th Five-Year Plan," receiving 2 billion yuan in central financial support. Over the past year, in accordance with the principle of respecting nature, conforming to nature, and protecting nature, the construction of 103 sub-projects under the Liupanshan "Mountain and Water Project" has been advancing in an orderly manner.
　　In Shuangquan Village, a gully about 3.6 kilometers long was once avoided by the villagers. It used to be overgrown with weeds and littered with garbage, and the gully slopes occasionally collapsed, posing safety hazards. After the launch of the Liupanshan "Mountain and Water Project," this gully, as part of the comprehensive land improvement project at the source of the Qingshui River, began to "take on a new look" with the simultaneous advancement of three major projects: gully ecological governance, village ecological improvement, and water conservation forest replanting. In addition to dredging, 9.25 hectares of ecological greening have gradually been restored in the gully and on both banks, covering seedlings, aquatic (wetland) plants, and lawns.
　　"We are building economic forests around the village, dredging the gully, and restoring slope protection and greening on both sides of the gully, so that green mountains and clear waters truly become the people's mountains of gold and silver," said Cui Dingxiang, deputy director of the Natural Resources Bureau of Yuanzhou District, Guyuan City.
　　At the Liujiashan Forest Farm in Xiji County, about 70 kilometers by car from Shuangquan Village, the peaks are emerald green and the scenery is breathtaking. The abundant summer rain has washed away the dust from the beautiful peaks, turning them into an impressionistic landscape between heaven and earth.
　　At the construction site of the water conservation forest project at the source of the Choushui River in the eastern part of Moon Mountain, since the end of March this year, forest ranger Ma Yanjun and his colleagues have repeatedly traversed this 7,561-mu restoration and treatment area, successively planting 399,400 seedlings of various types, including dragon spruce, Chinese pine, Rosa xanthina, and lilac. "In the past, our area suffered drought nine years out of ten. In recent years, through afforestation, there has been more rain and the vegetation has improved," Ma Yanjun said with a smile.
　　Day after day of treating mountains, managing water, and increasing greenery has enabled Moon Mountain today not only to effectively control soil erosion, but also to gradually restore plant diversity. The increasingly improving ecological environment has also attracted more and more tourists who come attracted by its fame.
　　The Liupanshan Ecological Function Zone (Ningxia Section) is an important component of the Yellow River key ecological area among the "three zones and four belts" key ecological regions, and bears the important responsibility of safeguarding the ecological security of the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River as well as North and Northwest China. A team of 130 experts and specialists from inside and outside the region has been formed to provide scientific guidance for the project, developing a protection and restoration plan that extends from comprehensive small-watershed governance to integrated protection and restoration of mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes, grasslands, and deserts across the entire region, with plans to gradually build an ecological restoration pattern of "one belt, two cores, five corridors, and nine units" within three years.
　　Up to now, 77 of the 103 sub-projects under the Liupanshan "Mountain and Water Project" have started, with a start rate of 74.76% and completed investment of 1.11 billion yuan. "We will continue to strengthen project management and efficiently advance the Liupanshan 'Mountain and Water Project,'" said the relevant person in charge of the Land Space Ecological Restoration Division of the Autonomous Region Natural Resources Department. Our region will continue to comprehensively treat ecologically damaged and degraded areas through various protection and restoration measures such as comprehensively protecting tablelands, consolidating gullies, protecting slopes, treating mountains, and managing water, build a comprehensive soil and water conservation prevention and control system, optimize forest structure, improve forest quality, strive to enhance water conservation and soil and water conservation functions, build the water conservation area of southern Ningxia, and firmly build an important ecological security barrier in northwest China.