Soil erosion reduced 980,000 square kilometers by 2020 : ministry

By Li Qingli

(ECNS) -- The area of soil erosion in China was reduced by 980,000 square kilometers from the 1980s to 2020, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

Soil and water lossis a serious, world-class problem. Due to special geographical and historical conditions, it has been one of the prominent ecological problems in China. China solvedit successfully with two main measures.

Strict legislation and law enforcement

In 1991, China promulgated the Law of the People's Republic of China on Soil and Water Conservationand has implemented it strictly. Since then, all construction projects in China have taken measures to prevent and control soil erosion in accordance with the law, reducing the area of new man-made soil erosion by 240,000 square kilometers.

In recent years, China has gradually established a regulatory system for soil and water conservation,so as to limit economic and human activities within the capacity of water and soil resources.

Focusing on key areas and regional management

In different regions, soil and water loss is caused by different mechanisms, so measures should be taken based on local conditions, according to Zhang Wencong, deputy director of the Department of Soil and Water Conservation at the Ministry of Water Resources.

For example, in the upper and middle reaches of Yangtze River, comprehensive management should be carried out in small watersheds, with emphasis on the transformation of slope farmland and construction of slope water systems. But in the loess plateau area, the focus is supposed to be on reducing sediment into the river, and vigorously building high-standard silt DAMS and dry farming terraces.　　

While the serious situation of soil and water loss in China has been improved on the whole, some local areas still need to see fundamental change. Soil and water conservation still has a long way to go, witheffective measures to continue working in future, according to Zhang.