China harnesses soil erosion of 960,000 sq km

The statistics from the Ministry of Water Resources of China shows that, until now, China has brought under control a total area of 960,000 sq. km of soil erosion. Every year 1.5 billion tons of soil is conserved, more than 25 billion cubic meters of water is stored, 18 billion kilograms of grain is augmented, more than 13 million people in the areas affected by soil erosion area have gotten enough food and clothing, and many farmers have become more prosperous. Managing soil erosion has resulted in comprehensive efficiency including increasing the amount of green land, improving the efficiency of agriculture, and increasing farmers' income.

China started a batch of important projects during the "10th Five-year Plan" period, including the capital soil and water conservation program, the Loess Plateau silt arrester, comprehensive control of soil erosion in the northeastern backland area, and the desertification area of the upper reaches of the Pearl River. Recently, there have been eleven water and soil conservation projects dealt with on the national level, and cover over 500 counties and cities affected by soil erosion. These important water and soil conservation projects depend on the use of small valleys as units to vigorously implement the action of changing sloping fields to terraces; building silt arresters as well as other small water and soil conservation projects, and agricultural production roads; planting fruit trees; and restoring soil and water conserving vegetation. This has effectively improved agricultural production conditions as well as the ecological environment; and substantially improved the whole of the land.

In recent years, soil and water conservation has depended on the reduction of artificial interference, fully bringing nature's ecological restoration capabilities into play, and speeding up the process of controlling soil erosion. Currently six provinces, autonomous regions, and cities, including Ningxia, Beijing, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi and Qinghai, have announced the decision to comprehensively close up mountains and prohibit grazing. In twenty-five provinces, autonomous regions, and cities, 1,100 counties have fully or partially implemented the closing of the mountainside and prohibiting grazing. The closed off area reaches more than 670,000 square kilometers, with 350,000 square kilometers of forest and grass vegetation, in Beijing, preliminarily restored. The ecological environment has significantly improved.

According to current conditions, in the future, in the areas of serious soil erosion, large population consistency, and the obvious disparity between population and resources in the environment (the Yangtze Rive, the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River, and the limestone area in upper reaches of southwest the Pearl River); China will continue to expand the scale of the project, increase investment to build basic farmlands with high and stable yields, and improve the developing conditions of the rural economy. In some areas with fewer effects of soil erosion, suitable rainfall conditions and a smaller population density, China will further strengthen sealing the mountainside and the prohibition of grazing; change methods of production, reducing artificial factors disturb nature, and put nature's capability of ecological restoration into full use.

By People's Daily Online