An ecological protection project by Shendong Coal was conferred upon the green project award of the 10th Mother River Awards unveiled on December 2.
Located in the transitional zone between the hilly and gully regions of the Loess Plateau and Mu Us Sandyland, Shendong Coal’s mining area is a large-scale coal production base in the bay area of the Yellow River. To crack the worldwide problem of protecting the fragile environment while carrying out large-scale mining, Shendong Coal explored a set of unique principles and models to protect the environment, known as “five-pronged mining and five-pronged management” and “three-phase and three-circle ecological protection.” This innovation has won four national technological progress awards and provides valuable experience the nine state-level coal production bases in the Yellow River basin can draw on.
The “five-pronged mining and five-pronged management” model puts environmental protection first in mining and aims to strike a balance between mining and environmental protection. The “three-phase and three-circle ecological protection” approach is designed to prevent environmental pollution before mining, control pollution during mining and rehabilitate the environment after mining, while setting up a protective circle on the periphery, a plant-covered circle in the surrounding area and a landscaped circle in the central area. Over more than three decades, a total area of 384 square kilometers of land have been restored in the mines of Shendong Coal. The green coverage rate in the mining area has increased from somewhere between 3 to 11 percent at the beginning to 64 percent at present. The fragile environment in the mining area has been greatly improved and an oasis is emerging in the desertification region.
Initiated in 2000, the biennial Mother River Awards include green guard award, green team award, green project award, green contribution award and outstanding organization award for individuals, groups and projects. The review panel for the 10th Mother River Awards shortlisted 310 candidates from 553 submissions before selecting the final 20 winners of each award.
