Major Ecological Construction Projects

China has been implementing the "Returning Farmland to Forest" Project in the Western Region, allocating grain and living subsidies to affected farmers for a specific period. Also, vegetation recovery measures like enclosing hillsides to facilitate afforestation have been enforced, not only conserving soil fertility but also enhancing carbon storage capability.

With a projected total investment of RMB 525 billion -- including RMB 450 billion from the central treasury, the on-going restoration and plantation program will be the largest ecological endeavor in China. By the end of 2009, a state investment of RMB 243.3 billion had been materialized; 92,600 square kilometers of reclaimed farmland had been restored back into forests; 162,500 square kilometers of barren land and mountain slopes had been planted with trees; and 21,300 square kilometers of mountainsides had been enclosed to facilitate vegetation recovery. The whole project will involve and affect 124 million farmers. Apart from the state subsidies, the governments at various levels are taking effective measures to ensure and improve their lives, such as upgrading rural infrastructure, promoting farmland capital construction to raise the unit yield, relocating farmers out of naturally hostile to friendly areas, and developing local industries to guarantee farmers a long-term livelihood.

A similar grassland recovery project is being carried out in pasturing areas, covering 179 counties, or equivalent administrative divisions, and 3.98 million herders in Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia and Xinjiang. Deteriorating grasslands are banned for grazing and new grasses are being planted. During the banning season, herders affected will get feed compensation for their animals from the government. Healthy pastures are rotated for grazing, and herders are given advice on friendly and rational use of natural grasslands in order to accelerate the recovery of grassland ecology. By the end of 2009 the state had invested RMB 17.6 billion in grassland capital construction and feed subsidies to herders, fencing off 451,400 square kilometers of grassland against grazing and planting improved varieties on 97,100 square kilometers of deteriorated pastures.

The Natural Forest Resources Protection Project adopts measures such as afforestation by aerial sowing and enclosing hillsides to facilitate vegetation recovery. The area of forestation is currently 124,700 square kilometers and 926,700 square kilometers of natural forest have been effectively conserved. The commercial clear cutting of natural forest is totally banned in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and upper-middle reaches of the Yellow River.

Through a series of major ecological construction projects, the Western Region has afforested 306,500 square kilometers within the last ten years, 56.6 percent of China's total afforested area during the corresponding period. Currently, the forest area in western China has reached nearly 1.2 million square kilometers, with forest coverage of 17.1 percent, an increase of 6.7 percentage points over the 1999 figure. The Western Region forest stock volume has reached 8.27 billion cubic meters. In addition, about 544,500 square kilometers of natural grassland have been effectively protected, with a dramatic increase in the vegetation rate.

The increase of vegetation notably enhances the carbon sink ability of the natural ecosystem, but also effectively controls soil erosion and desertification, especially in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Gansu and Ningxia. Compared to 1999, the area of desertification has shrunk by 7,921 square kilometers. For several years both the area and intensity of soil erosion in the Loess Plateau have been declining and the annual volume of silt flowing into the Yellow River has reduced by 300 million tons, compared to the initial period of the western development drive. The oasis area in Xinjiang has increased to over 70,000 square kilometers. The shelter forests in northern China have protected over 200,000 square kilometers of farmland.

Strengthening Rural Infrastructure

Western Development has always foregrounded the rational development and effective utilization of water resources, which backs up a series of major water conservancy projects involving flood control, comprehensive reclamation of river basins, irrigation, water conservation and drinking water safety in rural areas. Consequently, rural infrastructure development in the Western Region has improved significantly, which not only enhances flood prevention and drought resistance capability, but also increases the production capacity of agricultural and livestock products.

A number of key water control projects have been built and put into service in Guangxi, Sichuan, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia, and 133 large-scale irrigated areas have been renovated, saving six billion cubic meters of water annually. About 42,000 square kilometers of low- and medium-yield farmland have been transformed, the irrigated area being increased by 50,700 square kilometers. Drinking-water-safety projects have benefited 77.94 million people in rural areas. Moreover, water-saving pilot projects have been launched, boosting awareness of water conservation. Through a series of measures, irrigation systems in the Western Region have improved, and there has been a clear strengthening in agriculture's ability to adapt to climate change.

The major long-term task of the Western Region is to strengthen the conservation and development of the eco-environment in response to climate change. This July China announced a policy to further implement the Western Development Strategy. In the next ten years, based on the achievements of current ecological construction and environmental protection, China will gradually establish and improve the ecological compensation system, which will develop the Western Region as China's ecological shelter.

Qin Yucai is director of the Western Development Department of the State Development and Reform Commission.