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Nation fighting ever-engulfing deserts
More than 1.74 million square kilometres of the nation's land are desertified, or about 18 per cent of China's territory, sources from State Forestry Administration (SFA) said Thursday. Even worse, the number is increasing at an average speed of 3,436 square kilometres each year. Desertification has made many rivers and lakes run dry, vegetations shrivel and ground water levels drop, while posing a direct threat to more than 100 million people, a statement from the forestry authority indicates. The living environment of millions of people has deteriorated by sandstorms that have often hit northern and northwestern China in the past years. Prevention and control of desertification is a strategic issue concerning the nation's ecological security and sustainable development, Xu Jialu, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), said Thursday. Xu spoke at a meeting on the 10th World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, which falls on June 17. This year's theme is "prevention and control of desertification to increase farmers' income." He stressed desertification degrades farmland and pastures and leads to the reduction of grain production and aggravates poverty in affected areas. "Government officials must attach importance to the existing problems and step up efforts to control desertification and make farmers reap benefits," Xu urged. The SFA, in collaboration with 17 ministries, has carried out a series of projects that hope to prevent the land territory turning to sand. They include projects to control dust storms in Beijing and Tianjin and shelter-forest projects in northern, northwestern and northeastern China. Those areas include more than 85 per cent of the nation's desertified areas. Authority statistics reveal that, by the end of last year, 20.5 million hectares of desertified land has been saved. Since 1998, 12 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion) has been injected into ecological construction projects in Inner Mongolia -- the hardest-hit area in the country. The main methods to fight sandy areas are through water and soil conservation, forest-for-food projects and conservation of natural forests. Beijing's efforts to control desertification have also paid off, with 158,000 hectares of land in the capital city have been reforested since 2000, Beijing Forestry Bureau officials said. This year will witness 240 million yuan (US$ 29 million) new investment in the field, they said. |
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