Central Government Allocates 1 Billion for Integrated Treatment of Rural Environments

Personnel from the Ministry of Environmental Protection stated that since the special fund for rural environmental protection was established in 2008, 1 billion in special funds from the central government has been allocated to all parts of the country. With the fund, over 1,200 villages suffering from major environmental problems will revive funding for rectification and over 170 villages and towns of ecological demonstration will be rewarded. In total, 9 million people will directly benefit from the initiative.

According to personnel at the Ministry of Environmental Protection, in line with the spirit of the video conference on environmental protection work in countrywide rural areas, and in the aim of further implementing the policy of “promoting remediation through rewards”, and accelerating the settlement of prominent environmental problems in rural areas, the General Office of the State Council in early 2009 forwarded the Implementation Plan of Practicing “The Promoting Remediation Through Rewards” to Speed Up the Solving of Prominent Rural Environmental Problems formulated by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Finance and the State Development and Reform Commission. A full deployment for the implementation of the policy was thus launched. In accordance with the requirements in the Implementation Plan, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Environmental Protection steadily moved ahead with the integrated improvement of rural environments based on the establishment and improvement of a special fund management system. In 2009, the special fund of 1 billion is mainly being used to support villages with major complaints and prominent environmental problems in key water sheds or areas for water pollution control or in the key counties in the national anti-poverty campaign. The principles for the use of such funds are “being well-focused, stressing actual effect, being open and transparent, earmarking and enhanced supervision”. Meanwhile, to give full play to the scale effect and demonstrative effect of the initiative and to enhance the guiding role of the special fund, the integrated improvement of groups of villages with similar environmental problems is encouraged. Also encouraged in the construction of centralized pollution control facilities that will benefit numerous villages and enlisting the aid of urban public environmental protection facilities.

Of the RMB 1 billion Yuan in special funds, about 920 million is used to support the comprehensive rectification in over 1,200 villages with prominent environmental problems. Among them, about 70% of the villages are located in key basins or areas of water pollution control or key counties in the state anti-poverty campaign; about 80 million is used to support more than 170 national beautiful towns and state-level eco-villages in the construction of ecological demonstrations. Over 9 people benefit directly, and an investment of nearly 1.5 billion in rural environmental protection will be spurred.

In the process of arranging the 2009 special fund, a meaningful experiments has been conducted in the quest for a new path in rural environmental protection, and this was done by scientific layout, the linkage between different levels and collaboration with local financial funds. Supporting given to integrated improvement of rural environments in “two-patterned" pilot areas in Hubei and Hunan Province has boosted the development of a “two-patterned" society. By supporting the concentrated remediation of scattered breeding in the villages round Erhai and domestic pollution control, the pollution load entering the lakes was significantly reduced. By supporting the renovation of numerous villages around Dahuofang Reservoir in Liaoning Province, co-construction and sharing of waste processing facilities at water sources was sought. By supporting the integrated renovation of the new villages for relocated people in Ningxia, the construction of a new socialist countryside was advanced and an efficient path for ecological immigrants in similar areas was actively explored. (Source: Xinhua New Agency)