At six in the morning, Lao Zhou, a forest ranger in Lanxiang Township, Wuxi County, Chongqing, opens his mobile app as usual. The screen displays real-time data on temperature, humidity, soil moisture, and infrared camera monitoring from an alpine meadow at an altitude of 1,800 meters. Meanwhile, 300 kilometers away at the Big Data Center in Enshi, Hubei, this ecological data from the Wuling Mountain area converges and interacts with information streams from Chongqing, generating a dynamic "ecological map." The "Youyou Cao E-Yu" ecological collaboration platform, spanning Hubei and Chongqing, is redefining the logic of ecological protection in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River with big data.

"In the past, patrolling relied on legs, monitoring on eyes, and cross-provincial coordination on phone calls. Now, the data 'runs' by itself," said Lao Zhou, pointing to the fluctuating curves on his phone screen. He told reporters that last summer, the platform's early warning system predicted a landslide risk 48 hours in advance, allowing three villages downstream to evacuate in time. This shift from passive response to active warning is the core breakthrough since the "Youyou Cao E-Yu" project was implemented three years ago. By breaking down data silos across 7 districts/counties and 23 nature reserves along the Hubei-Chongqing border, it has established a comprehensive sensing network covering vegetation, hydrology, climate, and biodiversity.

On the large screen at the Enshi Big Data Center, reporters saw a more macro-level picture: ecological data from the Qingjiang River, a tributary of the Yangtze in Hubei, and the Daning River Basin in Chongqing are linked in real time. When precipitation in the Qingjiang Basin is abnormal, the system can automatically simulate its impact on water levels in the Daning River. Project technical lead Engineer Li revealed that the platform has integrated 12 types of data sources, including satellite remote sensing, ground sensors, drone patrols, and public reports, processing over 2TB of data daily. "We are not just looking at 'points' but analyzing the 'network.' For example, by studying the migration patterns of dove tree populations in the border area between Hubei and Chongqing, we can inversely verify the micro-level impacts of climate change."

This data-driven governance model is triggering a chain reaction. Last autumn, by comparing forest fire risk data from both regions over the past decade, the platform identified clear fire transmission pathways in the border zone between western Hubei and northeastern Chongqing. During this year's spring fire prevention period, the two regions conducted their first cross-provincial joint defense drill, improving emergency resource dispatch efficiency by 40%. More notably, on the economic front, the platform's incubated "Ecological Product Value Accounting System" is attempting to assign clear values to ecological services like carbon sequestration and water conservation, providing a quantitative basis for cross-provincial ecological compensation.

However, challenges remain real. Reporters found during interviews that issues such as inconsistent data standards, incomplete cross-administrative coordination mechanisms, and long-term operational funding guarantees are still prominent. A grassroots cadre involved in the project admitted frankly, "The data flows, but departmental barriers are not fully broken. For instance, integrating wildlife monitoring data from forestry, scientific research, and environmental protection systems still takes time and effort." Additionally, balancing data openness with security and making algorithmic models better fit the mountainous terrain remain focal points for the technical team's nightly攻坚 (攻坚:攻坚克难, tackling tough problems).

Zhang Ming, a researcher at the Institute of Ecology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes the value of "Youyou Cao E-Yu" extends far beyond the technical level: "It is actually exploring a new model of a watershed governance community. The development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt cannot focus only on the main stem while neglecting tributaries. Big data makes cross-border collaboration operational rather than just conceptual. The next key step is to transform this 'data consensus' into an 'institutional consensus,' promoting the formation of a regular cross-provincial ecological governance joint meeting mechanism."

As night falls, the Enshi Data Center remains brightly lit. Data streams on the screens flicker like a starry river, outlining a digital mirror of the连绵 (连绵: continuous) mountains spanning western Hubei and eastern Chongqing. Lao Zhou sent his latest patrol log,附 (附: attached with) a photo of blooming dove trees—a rare species monitoring record just tagged by the platform through image recognition. From the foothills of the Wuling Mountains to the banks of the Yangtze, a silent data revolution is reweaving the relationship network between humans and nature. Where lush green grass meets surging data, the green答卷 (答卷: answer sheet) for the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze is being written in every flowing byte.