Home / Environment / Ecology and China Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read | Comment
Desert Held in Check in Qandam Basin
Adjust font size:

The growth of China's highest sandy area, Qaidam Basin in Qinghai Province, has been at least temporarily halted with the planted area increasing by 2.7 percent year-on-year.

 

Statistics from the provincial forestry bureau show the total afforested area has reached 9.8 million mu (653,000 ha), thanks to 2.28 million mu (152,000 ha) of afforestation projects carried out during the country's Tenth Five-Year Plan Period (2001-2005).

 

 

Sands cover nearly 34,900 square kilometers, one third of the basin in the northwest part of Qinghai, and encircle the 6,000-meter high Qilian and Kunlun Mountains.

 

Li Wen, an official with the forestry bureau, told Xinhua on Wednesday that the afforestation projects have slowed down desertification.

 

"Sandy areas are not the same as deserts. They are caused by irrational development of grasslands and can be reversed," he said, adding that early success in an unirrigated afforestation research project gave desert control workers hope for the basin.

 

The basin has an average elevation of 3,200 meters and is rich in salt, oil, and natural gas, but its elevation and dry climate have meant sparse vegetation and serious desertification and made it difficult to get access to these resources.

 

Local forestry personnel began a 3.73-million-yuan (US$483,000) pilot project five years ago to improve sandy areas, and have added nearly 250 ha of forests in the form of 187 forest belts, and brought more than 17,000 ha of sandy areas under control.

 

Scientists have also started a 156-ha experimental center using unirrigated and deep-sowing methods that have resulted in a forest survival rate of more than 80 percent.

 

They say that dry afforestation techniques will make large-scale desertification-control and soil improvement projects possible.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 26, 2007)

Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read
Comment
Pet Name
Anonymous

China Archives
Related >>
- Local Governments Pledge to Combat Desertification
- Region Bids to Turn Desert into Forest
- Operation Blitzkrieg Against Desert Storm
Most Viewed >>
Air Quality 
Cities Major Pollutant Air Quality Level
Beijing particulate matter II
Shanghai particulate matter III1
Guangzhou sulfur dioxide II
Chongqing particulate matter III2
Xi'an particulate matter III1
Most Read
- White paper on energy
- Endangered monkeys grow in number
- Yangtze River's Three Gorges 2 mln years in the making
- The authorities sets sights on polluted soil
- China, US benefit from clean energy
NGO Events Calendar Tips
- Hand in hand to protect endangered animals and plants
- Changchun, Mini-marathon Aimed at Protecting Siberian Tiger
- Water Walk by Nature University
- Green Earth Documentary Salon
- Prof. Maria E. Fernandez to Give a Lecture on Climate Change
More
Archives
UN meets on climate change
The UN Climate Change Conference brought together representatives of over 180 countries and observers from various organizations.
Panda Facts
A record 28 panda cubs born via artificial insemination have survived in 2006.
South China Karst
Rich and unique karst landforms located in south China display exceptional natural beauty.
Saving the Tibetan Antelopes
The rare animals survive in the harsh natural environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
More
Laws & Regulations
- Forestry Law of the People's Republic of China
- Meteorology Law of the People's Republic of China
- Fire Control Law of the People's Republic of China
- Law on Protecting Against and Mitigating Earthquake Disasters
- Law of the People's Republic of China on Conserving Energy
More
Links:
State Environmental Protection Administration
Ministry of Water Resources
Ministry of Land and Resources
China Environmental Industry Network
Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base