China makes substantial strides in desertification control

BEIJING, June 17 (Xinhua) -- China has made substantial strides in combating desertification, with 365 million mu (about 24.3 million hectares) of desertified areas turned into green land since 2012, data from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration showed Tuesday.

About 27.94 million mu of land has been put under protection against desertification over the past 13 years, said the administration on the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, which falls on June 17 each year.

Official data also showed that from 2000 to 2019, the total amount of wind-eroded soil in the country's major deserts and sandy land has declined by about 40 percent, and China is the first nation to achieve zero growth in land degradation.

Under China's Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program (TSFP), the world's largest afforestation program launched in 1978 to tackle desertification in northwestern, northern and northeastern parts of the country. As a result, a total of 480 million mu of forests have been planted and preserved, and 1.28 billion mu of degraded grasslands have been restored.

In regions covered by the TSFP, the forest coverage ratio has risen from 5.05 percent in 1977 to 13.84 percent today, with 61 percent of soil erosion areas effectively controlled and 450 million mu of farmland protected.

China is also actively fulfilling its commitments under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The country has established an international desertification control knowledge management center in collaboration with the UNCCD secretariat, and is joining efforts with a number of countries in desertification control, including Mongolia and Russia, said the administration. ■