Worsening stone desertification is threatening the survival of
about 450,000 farmers in southwest China's Guizhou Province and they're in desperate need
of being relocated, local authorities have warned.
Desertification occurs when arable or habitable land is
transformed into desert. Guizhou is affected by a form called
"stone desertification" in which soil is eroded, water levels drop,
the land begins to become barren and underlying stones are
exposed.
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Guizhou is the Chinese province which suffers most from this
type of desertification. About one fifth of the province's land
area -- 35,920 square kilometers -- is affected by the rocky
desertification, according to the Guizhou Provincial Department of
Water Resources.
As the soil erodes the survival of local farmers becomes
increasingly precarious. About 450,000 local residents are facing a
drastic deterioration of their living conditions, said an official
from the department. But he didn’t provide details of any
relocation plans.
Soil erosion affects up to 73,200 square kilometers of land in
Guizhou -- 41 percent of its total land area -- but around 25,000
square kilometers have been brought under control along the upper
reaches of the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers in the past few years, the
official said.
At the current rate at which damaged areas are being recovered
-- 1,000 square kilometers per year -- Guizhou would need at least
70 years to bring soil erosion under control, he explained.
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(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2007)
