Desertification (land degradation and sand encroachment) is one
the most severe environmental problems facing China. The area
affected, which is 4.38 million sq km or about 45 percent of
China's land territory, far exceeds the nation's total farmland.
Years of hard work are beginning to produce results. Between
November 2003 and April 2005, the State Forestry Administration
carried out the third nationwide monitoring of land degradation and
sand encroachment, which showed that the areas affected had both
been lessened for the first time since the founding of PRC in 1949,
and that the overall expansionary trend was beginning to be
stemmed.
The State Forestry Administration has implemented a nationwide
sand control program, which has three phases: The first phase aims
to get a basic control of desertification by 2010; the second phase
aims to reduce the area of desertification every year until 2030;
and the third phase aims to raise the nation's forest cover and
bring all sources of desertification under effective control by the
year 2050.
