Large number of students turn out in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, along with their parents and teachers, for a greening, environmental protection, tree planting activity, on April 9. [Photo/Baotou Daily]

ON SATURDAY, the first environmental inspection group, sent by the central government, concluded its inspection of Inner Mongolia autonomous region, which lasted from July 14 to Aug 14. Out of the 89 protection zones in the autonomous region, 41 were found to be home to illegal activities and failed to protect the environment inside them. Beijing News comments:

If you are not astonished about some natural protection zones breaking the law, surely the number of the zones involved must shock you. Almost half of all the natural protection zones are involved.

Worse, this happened in Inner Mongolia where the government has paid much attention to the environment. Inner Mongolia used to suffer from expansion of its desert because of over exploitation of its forests into farmland, as well as overuse of its water resources. But over the past decade the government has introduced a number of programs to protect the environment, such as returning farmlands to woodland and establishing the natural protection zones.

Establishing natural protection zones is one of the most important steps in protecting the environment. Inside the zones, the law forbids hunting, cutting down trees, and raising cattle, in order to preserve the natural resources.

But such prohibitions often come at the cost of economic growth, and Inner Mongolia's economy still lags behind and it is still considered an underdeveloped region. When there is a conflict between the environment and economic interests, the local government and the local residents always tend to choose the latter. That leads to illegal activities, such as exploiting the natural resources inside the zones, which violate the law.

In order to solve this problem, we need to, first of all, strengthen the rule of law. Whatever excuse local officials have, when they fail to correct, even get involved in, the illegal activities in the natural protection zones, higher authorities should punish them instead of turning a blind eye to their breaking the law. Only with strict implementation of the law can we better protect the natural environment in Inner Mongolia.

Besides, it is time to offer some favorable policies to support the economic development of Inner Mongolia.