Strategic measures for rapid restoration of Xianghe Segment of China’s Grand Canal

Abstract

ABSTRACTChina’s Grand Canal is a giant water engineering project and has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Since its initial construction in the Zhou Dynasty (486 B.C.), the Canal had played great role in transportation and regional economic development. However, those historical functions of the Grand Canal have been almost abandoned during the past century in part due to problems like water pollution and ecological deterioration. While the environmental and ecological functions of China’s Grand Canal have been severely damaged, its socio-economic functions have been crippled. The Xianghe Segment of China’s Grand Canal (XSCGC) is the north end of China’s Grand Canal. Connecting Beijing and Tianjin, XSCGC is an important component of China’s Grand Canal. With the implementation of China’s Strategy for Promoting Ecological Progress and Beijng–Tianjin–Hebei Integration Development Strategy, the restoration of environment, ecosystems, and socio-economic functions of XSCGC has become an urgent task for national ecological security and regional development. This paper reviewed historical evolutions in XSCGC and pointed out the requirements, potentials and orientation of XSCGC restoration from the perspectives of environment protection, ecosystem regeneration and socio-economic development. Based on the field investigation, the key problems in the environment and ecosystems and their causes were analyzed and identified. Then, using landsenses ecology methods of ecological restoration and planning, the strategic measures for restoration of XSCGC were proposed, including ecological pattern optimization, ecological corridor construction, and aquatic environment improvement, riparian and wetland ecosystem restoration, acoustic environment improvement, local microclimate regulation, biodiversity protection and modern environmental management framework through the technical support of Environmental Internet of Things (EIoT).