(一 )保护和改善生态环境是我国实施西部大开发战略的根本切入点 ,也是我国经济可持续发展的基本保证 ,同时又是全面建设小康社会的重大举措。因此 ,党中央和国务院决定在实施西部大开发中着力对退耕还林 (草 )工程做了部署 ,决定首先在长江上游、黄河上中游各有关省份开展退耕 (1) Protecting and improving the ecological environment are the fundamental starting points for China in implementing the strategy of developing the western region and are also the basic guarantee for the sustainable development of our economy. They are also major measures for building an overall well-to-do society. Therefore, the Central Party Committee and the State Council decided to make efforts in the implementation of the program of large-scale development of the western region and made arrangements for the project of returning farmland to forestry and grassland. They decided to first carry out the policy of returning land for cultivation in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and other provinces in the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River