Should extensive afforestation be carried out in the desert? The National Forestry and Grassland Administration publicly refutes rumors about rural areas | forestry | afforestation
On the occasion of the 29th World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration publicly refuted the claim that "extensive afforestation should be carried out in the desert.".
Researcher Wu Bo, Director of the Institute of Desertification at the Chinese Academy of Forestry and Director of the Key Laboratory of Desert Ecosystems and Global Change at the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, stated that according to the general consensus in the scientific community, deserts are the result of long-term environmental evolution under arid climate conditions. The main reason for the low and sparse vegetation in desert environments is due to climate drought and water scarcity.
Wu Bo said that desert areas do not lack soil, and sandy soil itself is a type of soil. Large areas of deserts and Gobi are distributed in arid areas of our country, with an annual precipitation of less than 200 millimeters. Natural precipitation alone cannot support the growth of a large number of trees. Planting large areas or high-density trees will lower the groundwater level, consume soil moisture, and lead to the collapse of desert ecosystems.
"Scientific research has long proven that only desertified land formed by climate change or human activities is possible and needs to be treated, and the treatment method is not limited to planting trees. It should be a combination of trees, shrubs, and grass." Wu Bo said that desertification control should be "determined by water", that is, the restored vegetation should not exceed the local water resource carrying capacity. For natural deserts and Gobi, maintaining their original state and ecological system integrity, so that the animals and plants living in them are not disturbed, is the best choice. We should always adhere to the principle of suitable forest, suitable grass, suitable irrigation, and suitable wasteland, and scientifically prevent and control desertification.
China is one of the countries with the most severe desertification, with a total desertification land area of 2.5737 million square kilometers, accounting for 26.81% of the national land area. The area of desertified land is 1.6878 million square kilometers, accounting for 17.58% of the national land area.
According to data released by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration on the 17th, China has completed a total of 20.33 million hectares of desertification prevention and control tasks since the 18th National Congress, and 53% of the desertified land that can be treated has been treated. Compared with 2009, the average vegetation coverage in the desert area has increased by 2.6 percentage points. In the past 20 years, the comprehensive vegetation coverage of forest and grass in the Beijing Tianjin Wind and Sand Source Control Project area has increased from 39.8% to 45.5%, and the forest coverage in the Three North Project area has increased from 5.05% in 1978 to 13.84%. The key control areas have achieved a historic transformation from "sand entering and people retreating" to "green entering and sand retreating".
An expert from Beijing Forestry University told a reporter from First Financial News that the location of the "Ten Thousand Acres of Trees in Ningxia", which was widely concerned by society in the previous stage, belongs to a typical inland arid desert climate with low rainfall and high evaporation. It has obvious seasonal drought and other adverse natural climate characteristics, which greatly hinders the improvement of afforestation survival rate and the promotion of young forest growth. Even in afforestation areas, the basic ecological principle of "suitable land and trees" should be adhered to. Based on the different site conditions and biological characteristics of tree species in various sandy areas, drought resistant and suitable tree species should be listed as the main afforestation tree species.
Yang Wenbin, an expert in sand prevention and control at the Chinese Academy of Forestry, stated that the principle of suitable land and trees should be adopted for sand control. Low density cover should be used for sand control, and local tree species should be selected as much as possible. The combination of trees, shrubs, and grasses should be used to increase vegetation diversity and improve sand fixation effects. Measures should be taken according to local conditions, such as suitable trees, suitable irrigation, and suitable wasteland.
Desertification prevention and control is a global issue and challenge. The above-mentioned experts stated that China has a large area, wide distribution, and severe desertification, with a dry climate and low rainfall, high evaporation, relatively small total water resources, and uneven distribution. The prevention and control situation remains severe.
The results of the sixth national survey on desertification and desertification show that there are 1.6878 million square kilometers of desertified land in China, accounting for approximately 17.58% of the total land area. It is distributed in 30 provinces and 927 counties, affecting the production and life of nearly 400 million people, seriously affecting national ecological security and sustainable regional economic development. At present, the restoration of desert ecosystems in China is in its early stages and has poor stability. In addition, there is a prominent contradiction in regional water resources, unreasonable human activities still exist, and sand prevention and control are still in the stage of overcoming difficulties.
Wu Aimin, a first level inspector of the Three North Bureau of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, recently introduced in a media interview that in the past period of time, people have been in a passive defense and a state of heavy control and light defense in the process of fighting against sandstorms. Firstly, there is no national or regional desertification prevention and control plan, and desertification control is mainly carried out spontaneously by community teams and the masses, lacking effective organization and unified action; The second is to govern while destroying, and even the destruction is far greater than the speed of governance; Thirdly, due to the constraints of basic conditions such as economy, society, technology, and ideology, there is a lack of effective means to control desertification.
"Some people even one-sided believe that as long as trees are planted, even if they are 'irrigated with water', a microclimate can be formed, which can bring precipitation, wind protection, and sand fixation. It completely disregards the constraints of local hydrology, climate, and other conditions," said the forest and grass experts mentioned above.
In June 2021, the General Office of the State Council issued the Guiding Opinions on Scientific Greening, which clearly stated that forest and grass vegetation construction should be carried out in accordance with the inherent laws of the ecosystem, and efforts should be made to improve the self restoration ability and stability of the ecosystem. Adhere to adapting measures to local conditions, adapting to local conditions and greenery, fully consider the carrying capacity of water resources, and choose trees as trees, irrigation as shrubs, and grass as grasses.
The guidance proposes that the greening plan for arid and semi-arid areas with an annual precipitation of less than 400 millimeters should go through water resource verification, guided by rain and water conservation, with a focus on restoring shrub and grass vegetation, promoting a green model combining trees, shrubs, and grass, promoting low-density afforestation and afforestation, and using water collection and water-saving afforestation and grass planting techniques reasonably to prevent excessive water use from causing ecological environment damage. Priority should be given to selecting shrub and grass species that are drought resistant, barren resistant, and resistant to wind and sand in areas with severe drought, water shortage, and sandstorms. The northern sand belt needs to increase its sealing and protection efforts.
"We cannot attach all functions to a single forest," said Yu Xinxiao, a soil and water conservation expert and professor at Beijing Forestry University. "Greening should be considered in the optimization of national spatial layout, rather than simply planting trees and planting greenery.". Not all places are suitable for large-scale afforestation. In some places, it is advisable to use forests, irrigation, grass, wasteland, bare land, and sand.
According to Yu Xinxiao, theoretically, areas with an annual rainfall of over 400 millimeters belong to humid and semi humid areas, and the natural vegetation is forests; Between 200mm and 400mm, it belongs to semi-arid areas, and the natural vegetation is shrubs. Generally, trees do not appear in patches, and even if there are, they are scattered and sparse; Below 200 millimeters is an arid area, with natural vegetation mainly composed of herbaceous plants; Below 100 millimeters is an extremely dry and arid area, with few herbaceous distributions and no large-scale grasslands.
At the beginning of this year, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Water Resources, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs jointly issued the "National Plan for Desert Prevention and Control", which clearly stated that for natural relics such as native deserts and Gobi with infrequent human activities, protection should be strengthened and no human intervention should be allowed. For areas with frequent human activities but lack the conditions for governance, as well as contiguous desertified land that is not suitable for development and utilization due to the need for ecological protection, they shall be designated as restricted protection areas in a planned manner and implemented with restricted protection.
