The Green Wall of China ( Chinese trad. 三 北 防護林 , ex. 北 防护林 ) is a project designed to prevent the expansion of deserts in the territory of the People's Republic of China . The official English name for the project is The Three-North Shelterbelt Development Program .
The name of the project is taken by analogy with the Great Wall of China , which runs parallel to the future belt of plantings. Their functions are similar: if the ancient structure protected China from the northern barbarians , the new project is designed to protect it from sandstorms .
The green wall is a large landscaping project. Its main goal is to stop the desertification of northern China, which has a dry climate and is quite densely populated.
Content
Desertification in China
In recent years, Asian dust storms , which are primarily affecting the northern regions of the country directly adjacent to the deserts, have become increasingly alarming in Beijing . Every year from the onset of the desert, China loses about 1,300 km² of usable territory. The consequences of desertification in one way or another are 400 million people. [1] From the heat of the desert, the average annual temperature in Beijing has already risen by several degrees. Korea and Japan also suffer from Chinese dust storms, in which they lead to mud rains and river clogging. The dust storms that the Chinese call the “yellow dragons” poetically are so strong that the dust from China was found even on the west coast of the United States .
Causes of Desertification
As in many countries of the world, desertification is a result of human activity. Rapidly developing agriculture uses soils beyond their limits, disrupting their structure and depriving them of nutrients. Poor vegetation cover decreases even more when grazing and deforestation , and the soil loses its resistance to erosion . Over time, the vegetative layer is either washed away by precipitation, or dries out and is carried away by the wind.
Also on the process of desertification affects the development of industry. At the time of the formation of the PRC in 1949, 8% of the country's area was covered with forests. However, during industrialization there was a need for fuel, and the problem was solved by increasing deforestation.
Another problem is the growing consumption of water by industry, agriculture and a growing population. It is solved, among other things, through the construction of new artesian wells and dams , which leads to a decrease in the water flow of the rivers (sometimes the river dries up before reaching the sea) and a decrease in the groundwater level . For example, the second-longest river in China, the Yellow River, remains dry in the lower reaches for about six months.
Basic Principles
The construction of the Green Wall began in the 1970s. after the cultural revolution it will continue until 2050. At the same time, 350,000 km² of the country’s area will be planted, which is roughly equivalent to the area of Germany .
The regions affected by desertification (including the deserts themselves) cover an area of about 2.6 million km², which represents about 28% of the total area of the PRC. [2]
The forest is best suited for such purposes as reducing wind speed and counteracting soil erosion. To this end, a real green wall will be planted in China - a protective belt of trees, grasses and bushes passing through 13 provinces over a length of more than 4,500 km and a width of about 100 km. Trees will retard the movement of wind and sand, and the roots will strengthen the structure of the soil and prevent its erosion. In such conditions, fast growth and resistance to sandstorms are important for plants - and this is despite the fact that the average annual rainfall in these regions is only 100–200 mm. It is mainly planned to plant poplars and tamarisks , which are unpretentious to the environment and are distinguished by rapid growth. In the future, genetically modified or cloned poplars will also be planted.
Since monocultures are characterized by increased vulnerability to pests and diseases, mixed forests are planted above all else . But the arable land also enters the Green Wall.
The project involves all Chinese people. Thus, according to the law, every citizen of China from 11 to 60 years old is obliged to plant from three to five trees during a year or to pay the corresponding tax . [3]
Various landscaping options apply. The traditional method involves the breaking down of sand dunes and leveling the land with excavators and bulldozers, after which the plants are planted, mostly with human hands. Another method is sowing seeds using airplanes; seeds that are in the first stage of ripening and wrapped in loam balls are dropped from a flying plane. In this way, more than 1000 km² were planted. In the course of the Green Wall project, this method was introduced by China to the market level.
Structural Forestry Reform
In 2003, China began structural reform of forest enterprises. In the course of the reform, forest areas were leased to the peasants, and their rights were legally attested; now the farmer is considered the owner of those trees that he planted himself. In addition, the peasants received the right to cultivate taxable land or to transfer their right to use to other persons or firms. This reform gave peasants an incentive to invest in planting forests.
Achievements
As of 2009, the Green Wall was located in 13 provinces, occupying an area of about 220,000 km² - this corresponds to the area of Great Britain . In some areas, the project’s results are already clearly visible: the areas where the residents were forced to clean the houses of sand every day were again suitable for life, and dust storms became much less devastating. According to estimates, already planted forests retain about 200 million tons of sand per year.
Since the 1970s China's forest area has nearly doubled. In the new millennium, a law was passed prohibiting the grazing of livestock in threatened areas. Despite all efforts, in some regions the desert still continues to expand. However, for 2000-2004. the area of annual desertification for the first time decreased to 1,300 km², which is comparable to the area of such a city as Los Angeles [4] . In China, there are over 1,750,000 km² of forests (data for 2008). This number includes the world's largest restored forest area.
See also
- The Stalinist Plan for the Transformation of Nature - a program of scientific regulation of nature in the USSR, implemented in the late 1940s - early 1950s. The program, in particular, included the creation of state forest belts with a total length of over 5,300 kilometers.
- The Great Green Wall is an African project similar to the Green Wall of China project.
Notes
- ↑ Holding Back the Sands (inaccessible link) . China International Business (02/10/2009). Archived February 14, 2009. (eng.)
- ↑ Archived copy (inaccessible link) . The date of circulation is June 22, 2008. Archived January 19, 2012. (him)
- ↑ Belsky expanses
- Китая China's success in combating desertification . Xinhua News Agency (06/17/2008). Archived March 27, 2012.