Ｃｈｉｎａ Ｔａｋｅｓ Ｅｆｆｅｃｔｉｖｅ Ｍｅａｓｕｒｅｓ ａｇａｉｎｓｔ Ｄｅｓｅｒｔｉｆｉｃａｔｉｏｎ ａｎｄ Ｓａｎｄｉｆｉｃａｔｉｏｎ

A comparatively soundnational monitoringnetwork for desertifica-tion and sandificationhas taken shape.

China is one of the countries withvast and widely distributed areaof devastatingly decertified andsandified land. The serious land deserti-fication and sandification has been im-posing a threat to China's ecological se-curity and sustainable socio-economicdevelopment as well as the subsistenceand development of the Chinese nation.In order to master the status quo anddynamic changes of desertified andsandified land nationwide， provide sci-entific support and database for themacro decision-making of the centralgovernment， and implement the UnitedNations Convention to CombatDesertification， the State Forestry Ad-ministration (former the Ministry ofForestry) completed the 1st and 2ndNational Monitoring Surveys for Deser-tification and sandification respectivelyin 1994 and 1999. The findings of thesurveys provide support for the decision-making process for ecological develop-ment and combating desertification andsandification. A comparatively soundnational monitoring network for deser-tification and sandification has takenshape.

Since the entry into the 21st century，the monitoring activities for desertifica-tion and sandification in China have goton a scientific， standardized and institu-tionalized track. In order to implementthe sandification Prevention and Com-bating Law of the People's Republic ofChina and the United Nations Conven-tion to Combat Desertification， the 3rdNational Monitoring Survey for Deser-tification and sandification was com-pleted in 2004 under the auspices of theState Forestry Administration and withthe involvement of such sectors asagriculture， water conservancy， environ-mental protection， meteorology and theChinese Academy of Sciences. Groundsurvey is combined with interpretationof remote sensing data， with ground sur-vey as the focus. The 3S (remote sensing，GIS， GPS) technology is adopted. Over4，000 technicians were involved in thesurvey. 5.02 million compartments werezoned and checked， with 156 millionunits of information obtained. A NationalGIS for Desertification and sandificationhas been established， which provides sig-nificant support for combating deserti-fication and sandification.

The results of moni-toring show that theimplementation of for-estry development strat-egy with ecological de-velopment as a priority，the expansion tendencyof desertification andsandification in China hasbeen primarily broughtunder the control and the\"stalemate of ecologicalmanagement and destruc-tion'' been realized Basedon the findings of the 3rdNational Monitoring Sur-vey for Desertification and sandification，the bulletin gives an overview of the lat-est information on desertified andsandified land in China by the end of2004 in an attempt to keep the public in-formed of the status quo of desertifica-tion and sandification and seek their con-cerns and supports for sandification pre-vention and control.

The major regions where dynamicchanges of desertifications andsandification occurred

Compared with 1999， the regionswhere the dynamic changes of desertifi-cations and sandification occurred couldbe classified into the following fourtypes:

1. The region where situation wasgetting better and is continuouslyimproving， including Horqin Sandy land，Ningxia Plain， South edge of Mu UsSandy Land， which is represented bygradually decreased sandified land area，increased vegetation and further im-proved ecological situation.

2. The region where sandificationused to be expanding and now is gettingbetter， including Otindag Sandy Land，and Bashang region of Hebei. Throughthe implementation of the SandificationCombating Program in Areas in the Vi-cinity of Beijing and Tianjin， the expand-ing sandification tendency of these twoareas was checked， the vegetation reha-bilitated remarkably and the ecologicalsituation improved significantly.

3. The region where sandificationwas expanding dramatically and that ex-pansion is now slowing down， includ-ing the lower reaches of Tarim River， andthe lower reaches of Heihe River.Through emergent water delivery andtreatment， the vegetation of part of thetwo areas began to rehabilitate， and thetendency of vegetation degradation andoasis shrinkage was mitigated to certainextent， though there is still long way togo for the full rehabilitation.

4. The region where sandificationwas expanding and is still expanding， in-cluding Minqin Oasis of Gansu， the HeadSources of the Three Major Rivers， andShouqu area of the Yellow River. Dueto the dual impacts of irrational use ofresources and draught， the sandified landin these areas is still expanding and theecological situation is furtherdeteriorating.

The overall situation of deserUficationand sandification

At present， the situation of desertifi-cation and sandification has been im-proved remarkably in general， shiftingfrom \"more destruction than controlling\"in the end of the 1990s to \"the stalemateof controlling and destruction\" atpresent. The tendency of the overall ex-pansion of desertification andsandification is initially checked，however， in part of the areas the deserti-fication and sandification is stillexpanding. This is a historic change inChina's drive to combat desertificationand sandification.

However， considering the nationalsituation and desertification situation ofChina， we must clearly recognize that theoverall situation of land desertificationand sandification in Chinais still very serious.

1. The achievementacquired at present is onlyinitial and staged success.The vegetation createdthrough treatment just en-ters the rehabilitationphase， most of which isannual herbal plants， thestability of plant commu-nity is weak， the ecologi-cal situation is still fragile，and it will take a long timeto rehabilitate the plantcommunity to a stablestatus.

2. The task to combat desertificationis still arduous. There is still 1.74 millionkm2 of sandified land in China， account-ing for 18.1% of the total land area， andthere is another 320，000 km2 of land withvisible sandification tendency， equalingto the area of Yunnan province， whichcould easily become new sandified landif proper measures haven's been taken toprotect and wisely use.

3. The desertification combating ismore and more difficult. During the pastdecades， the principle of \"tackling de-sertification issue in areas easy to com-bat prior to difficult areas， and emer-gency prior to other areas\" is taken incombating desertification， therefore， thesandified land with relatively better con-ditions and which is easier to combat hasbeen brought under control or initialcontrol. With the advance of desertifica-tion combating drive， the site conditionsof the sandified land needed to be treatedare worse and worse， it is more and moredifficult to combat such sandified land，and the funding needed per unit is higherand higher as well.

4. There still exit various artificialfactors leading to the extension ofsandification. Driven by economicbenefits， various activities that deterio-rate vegetation in sandy areas have notbeen stopped totally. Five indiscriminateactivities， such as indiscriminate graz-ing and reclamation still happen to a cer-tain degree in some areas.Contributing Factors forDeserUfication and Sandification

The overall trend of desertificationand sandification has been taken underinitial control， which is attributed to thegreat attention paid by the CPC CentralCommittee and the State Council to de-sertification and sandificationcombating， the adoption of various ef-fective policies and measures， down-to-earth implementation by local party com-mittees and government at all levels， andarduous efforts made by broad massesof the people.

1. A number of key programs onsandification prevention and controlhave been nitiated and implemented.Since the beginning of 21st century， thestate has implemented a number of pro-grams and projects related tosandification prevention and control，such as six key forestry programs， grass-land protetion and developmentprogram， water and soil conservationprojects， and comprehensive controlprojects along inland rivers. Since 2001，the annual area of sandy land broughtunder control has reached 1.92 millionha.， which has played a significant roleon the overall improvement of sandifiedland.

2. The legal and policy system fo-cusing on Law of Sandification Preven-tion and Combating has been established.Ever since 2000， the state has enactedlaws and regulations， such as Law ofSantification Prevention and Combating，Regulation on the Evaluation of Envi-ronmental Effects， and Regulations onthe Implementation of Forest Law， re-vised Grassland Law， issued A Decisionon Such Issues as Prohibiting Nostocflagelliforme Collection and Distributionand Stopping Indiscriminate Poachingon Licorice Root and Corchoruscapsularis， and promulgated a series ofpolicies and measures for farmers' ben-efits and sand control， which guaranteedthe success of sand prevention and con-trol effectively.

3. Taking sandification under controlscientifically is adhered to. To follownatural laws， and adopt biological，agronomical and project measures andcombine artificial rehabilitation withman-promoted natural restoration， tocomprehensively prevent sandificationaccording to local conditions. Inaddition， to promote the application ofover 100 existing technologies andmodels.

4. Relatively abundant rainfallbenefited vegetation restoration. In re-cent years， there was relatively abundantrainfall in dry areas in northwest China，which increased by 30-50% comparedwith that of the average year. It has sta-bilized and improved the achievementsof vegetation restoration and artificialcontrol.

Countermeasures to Sand Preventionand Control

1. To firmly implement NationalPlan on Sandification Prevention andCombating to bring tasks stipulated inthe Plan into effect， set forth annualobjectives， and carry out monitoring andexamination regularly， so as to insure itssuccess.

2. To implement key programs onsandification prevention and control se-riously to put the responsibility systeminto effect， modify the standard system，attach importance to project quality，strictly utilize funds， carry out inspec-tion and examination， and strengthen theconsolidation of project results， so as toensure the steady development ofprojects.

3. To innovate systems andmechanism.

To apply taxation policies featuringlittle tax and fees， as well as land utili-zation policies with definite tenurerights， and adopt the benefit distributionpolicy which says that the person whoinvests and controls shall get the benefits，so as to mobilize the enthusiasm of thewhole society.

4. To strengthen sandification con-trol according to law.

To intensify the efforts on lawenforcement， improve the level of lawenforcement， promote the measures ofprohibiting reclamation， grazing andfirewood collection， stop those cases thatdestroy happens while prevention effortsare underway. Laws must be observedand strictly enforced， and violators mustbe brought to justice.

5. To rely on the advancement of sci-ence and technology.

To popularize and apply practicaltechnologies and models forsandification prevention and control，strengthen technique training anddemonstration， increase the content ofscience and technology， and upgrade thequality of development.

6. To establish comprehensive dem-onstration sites for sandification preven-tion and control.

To explore policies， measures， tech-nical models and management systemsfor sandification prevention and control，and establish the new structure forsandification prevention and controlwhich promote the overall developmentvia site development.

7. To improve desertification moni-toring and forewarning system.

To promote capacity building ofmonitoring agencies and teams， perfectthe desertification monitoring system，carry out track monitoring on keyprograms， and evaluate effects by scien-tific means.

8. To make common effort to con-duct close cooperation and coordinationbetween various departments andsectors.

The relevant departments and sectorswill bear their own responsibilities， andcooperate closely to accelerate the na-tional efforts on sandification andcontrol.