Environmental protection measures have become increasingly prioritized across China in recent years. Maoming Open-pit Mine Ecological Park is a successful case study of how effective ecological restoration efforts can be.

Following the establishment of the People's Republic of China, oil shale was discovered in the Maoming Open-pit Mine. To address the national shortage of oil, builders from all over the country rushed to the mine and built an oil shale refinery in Maoming.

From the start of its oil production in 1962 to its shutdown in 1992, the cumulative mining volume of Maoming Open-pit Mine was nearly 200 million metric tons, of which 102 million tons oil shales were mined and 2.92 million tons of shale oil was produced, making special contributions to alleviating the country's oil difficulties.

Large-scale mining created a huge pit spanning a length of about 6 kilometers and a width of about 1 km in the mining area. After years of rainwater accumulation, a pit lake was formed. As oil shale is rich in minerals like oil and sulfur, while the mining technology was not as advanced at that time, the lake water was acidified, which affected the health of the public.

The rising water level of the lake also posed a safety hazard to the surrounding area. Although the mining of oil shale was stopped in 1992, the mining of kaolin and coal continued. In addition to the mine's chaotic management, industrial waste, domestic waste, and washing wastewater were also dumped here, while illegal mining occurred frequently, furthering serious environmental damage.

Since 2013, Maoming has stopped mining here and started to build a park to protect the area's ecological environment. To date, more than 9,000 mu(600 hectares) have been revegetated and more than 500,000 trees have been replanted here. The survival rate of tree species is currently over 85 percent, which has effectively improved the vegetation environment in the mining area.

During the Spring Festival in recent years, the Maoming Open-pit Mine Ecological Park has received more than 800,000 tourists, ranking first among local popular scenic spots.

Maoming Open-pit Mine Ecological Park. [Photo/WeChat account: maofabu]