Recently, the selection results of "The Second Session of Ten Examples of Ecological Restoration of National Territory Space in Guangdong Province" hosted by the Department of Natural Resources of Guangdong Province have been revealed, and the construction of the Eco-Design Town in Liangkou Town, Conghua, Guangzhou and the Yadong River Governance Project has been granted the "Ecological Restoration Design Award - Individual".

In this selection, a total of 4 ecological restoration projects in Guangzhou were awarded by Guangdong provincial authority, including the construction of the Eco-Design Town in Liangkou Town, Conghua, Guangzhou and the Yadong River Governance Project. Guangzhou ranks first in Guangdong Province in terms of the quantity of awarded projects, and the variety of ecological restoration projects involved. This reflects that Guangzhou has thoroughly implemented Xi Jinping's thought on ecological civilization, coordinated to promote the ecological restoration of national territory space, and made efforts to improve ecosystem service function and ecological product supply capability to strengthen the effeciency of its ecological security pattern.
 
Promote the development of eco-design industry with ecological restoration, and improve the ability to realize the value of ecological products
——Construction of the Eco-Design Town in Liangkou Town, Conghua, Guangzhou andYadong River Governance Project

Take the greenway as the link
Coordinate the comprehensive governance of water environment

Conghua has been always known as "the backyard garden of Guangzhou". There are 199 medium and small rivers in Conghua, with a total length of 1,275 kilometers, and 82 reservoirs, and the annual water availability is 2.8 billion cubic meters in total. By taking the first batch of pilot counties for the construction program of water beauty countryside as an opportunity, Conghua has systematically solved problems of lack of volumetric connectivity between rivers and lakes, ecological integration, and overall planning of resources and so on. It has exerted forces unanimously on the constructions of water system network, water beauty countryside and greenway along the Liuxi River, to realize the cooperative governance of the water ecology of the upstream and downstream, side banks, mainstream and tributaries of the Liuxi River. The overall space layout of "one axis, two corridors, six regions and eight nodes" is closely centered on the ecological pattern of river basins, mountains and waters and the planning concept of the characteristic town, and an ecological, economic and cultural zone in tree shape, integrating nature reserve, sightseeing experience, green industry and cultural inheritance has been built.

As the ecological core of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the main front and battlefield for the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy in Guangzhou, Conghua has always adhered to the greenway construction as the main task of displaying superior, happy and beautiful ecological city, and striving to build an innovative “Green Valley” and an ecological “Intelligence Valley” in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. From single governance adopted on riverway in the initial state, to the two-way governance of coastlines later on, and then nowadays, to take water as a chain, greenway as a link, coordinating the ecological elements such as mountains, water, forests, farmlands, lakes, and plants etc., carried out comprehensive system governance of water safety, water resources, water environment, and water ecology, Conghua has racked up a total of 111.8 kilometers in greenway construction.
 
The ecological exploration on Yadong River
Create an example of water governance in Conghua

The Yadong River Governance project in the Eco-Design Town was implemented in 2 phases, with a total length of 11 kilometers. The greenway in Phase I is 1 kilometer long, which was completed in 2019; The greenway in Phase II is 10 kilometers long and it was done in 2021. Phase I of the project focused more on the constructions of water safety and water landscape. Although it is only with a short length of 1 kilometer, it has made positive social impacts and ushered in the permanent settlement of the World Eco-Design Conference.

In 2020, by taking the greenway along the Yadong River as an example, Conghua was successfully selected for the pilot county as the national water system network and  construction program of water beauty countryside. On the basis of fully learning from the construction experience of Phase I of the project, the construction in Phase II has further optimized the cooperative governance of the water ecology of the upstream and downstream, side banks, mainstream and tributaries of the Liuxi River, and strived to create a livable, business-friendly and tourist-friendly place that integrates aquaculture, water ecology, and water culture. By taking the authenticity of nature conservation as the starting point and foothold, designers explore innovative solutions for masonry typology, such as mixing natural pebbles and ecological stones, and integrating the crafts of binger gabions and ecological frames etc., to enhance the blending and integration of river banks, water and soil, the once messy and flooded rivers have been upgraded and transformed into green beach, ecological wetland and waterfront greenway, a beautiful panorama of harmonious coexistence of human and water is drawn.

Co-establishment, co-governance and co-sharing by government, enterprises and villages
Build a peaceful environment with lucid water
 
01
Co-establishment by government, enterprises and villages is the characteristic of the Yadong River Governance Project
 
The key lies in three aspects: Firstly, is to strengthen the government-led construction; Secondly, is to drive enterprises to improve supporting facilities; Thirdly, is to stimulate villagers' passion for participation.
 
In terms of strengthening the government-led construction, Conghua takes water safety as an orientation, has carried out infrastructure projects such as dredging and clearing obstacles, embankment construction etc., which has completely addressed the problem of the malfunctions of infrastructure, such as flood control and drainage, the flood control standard is reached to once-20 years. This has truly guaranteed the safety of people's lives and properties, and effectively promoted the ecological conservation of the water system and maintained the ecological balance.
 
In terms of driving enterprises to improve supporting facilities, the micro-transformation of the river landscape of the Yadong River Governance Project is carried out by the operating enterprise of the Eco-Design Town. Combined with the eco-design industrial development layout of "one river and two banks" , as well as facilities of more than 10 landscape nodes, such as waterfront revetments, trestles on wetland and cultural corridors etc., the Yadong River has been transformed into the "guest hall" of the Eco-Design Town, with smooth rivers, lucid waters, solid embankments, green banks and beautiful sceneries.

In terms of stimulating the passion of villagers for participation, the Yadong river Governance Project has provided next-door jobs for the villagers by the construction of greenway and the development of surrounding industries, realizing "work near home", which has not only increased the villagers' income, secured their livelihood, but also reduced the personnel flow, and facilitated the enterprise management. At the same time, it has greatly improved the living environment of the villages. These are visible, tangible and sensible well-being. The project has been highly recognized and praised by the villagers, and they have also actively participated in the construction, laying a solid foundation for the follow-up development of the project.
 
02
Co-governance comes after co-establishment can then maintain the beauty and quality of Yadong River
 
At present, Conghua has implemented smart water grid in water governance, taken the river chief system as the starting point to establish a "government-enterprise-village" tripartite joint prevention and governance mechanism. The Yadong River is divided into 21 water grids with river chiefs at district, township, and village levels, and the enterprise river chiefs, civilian river chiefs, and grid managers are all under the smart water grid governance. All of the river chiefs work together to promote the normalization of river governance and protection.
 
Meanwhile, by creating a base for a beautiful environment of water ecology, the endogenous power of enterprises along the route was further exerted, leading the enterprises to be more actively involved in the development of ecological industries. On the other side, with the continuous bonus released by ecology, villagers have driven themselves to be good "river guards" and protect the "Mother River", which has effectively reduced the costs of river governance and protection in the later stage, and relieved financial stress. A sustainable river governance and protection mechanism has been formed to ensure the health and functional sustainability of rivers and lakes, thereby promoting long-term water governance.
 
03
Co-sharing by government, enterprises and villages to protect people's livelihood with qualilty water

The construction of greenway along the Yadong River focuses on ecological restoration, it maintains the natural form of the river, avoids excessive artificialization, implements simultaneous governances in water areas and shorelines, concentrates on constructions in contiguous areas, and implements ecological bank protection. By integrating stormwater governance, ecological restoration of water system, restoration of the plant system and waterfront landscape system, it can avoid river bank erosion, and maintain the biodiversity and stability of the river system.

The improvement of ecological functions has become the "confidence" for revitalizing the rural economy. The quality of the surrounding ecological environment system has been greatly improved through the construction of the greenway along the Yadong River. The provincial industrial design institutes, teams of universities and colleges, Designers’ Village, and high-end hotels have successively settled in, where its annual income of the collective village has been increased. 84 eco-design enterprises have settled in the Eco-Design Town so far, and the first eco-design industrial cluster in China has been built.

To take the water as the medium, the humanistic connotation and historical context of the river are integrated with modern cultural tourism, positioning the strategy of the characteristic town into a whole, which creating abundant forms of business such as folk culture display, local characteristic catering, and rural Bed & Breakfast economy etc.,  creating a public space for entertainment, fitness, sightseeing experience, water recreation, and enjoying pastoral life for the general public and tourists, transforming the "skim" sightseeing tour into an "immersion" leisure vacation.
 
The industry thrives on water, the town is beautiful because of the waters, and people are happy because of the waters. With the construction of the Yadong River Governance Project as an example, Conghua has given full play to the ecological, economic and social benefits of the water conservancy project, and won the satisfactions of people and good reputations of society.