China Initially Reins in Soil Erosion Along Yangtze

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, March 20, 2002

China Initially Reins in Soil Erosion Along Yangtze

China has saved 70,000 square kilometers of seriously eroded land along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River after 13 years of painstaking efforts.

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China has saved 70,000 square kilometers of seriously eroded land along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River after 13 years of painstaking efforts.

The achievement was attributable to a massive project, launched in 1988 with a total investment of two billion yuan 241 million US dollars), to control soil erosion along the upper reaches of China's longest river.

To date, the project has reduced soil erosion by 170 million tons and set up a research system consisting of 329 monitoring stations for sand content in the river, according to Xiong Tie, deputy director of the Yangtze River Water Resources Committee.

Latest statistics show that the sand volume in the Yangtze River has decreased in recent years, thanks to projects of soil erosion control, afforestation, and a campaign to return farmland to forest.

The soil improvement has been completed on eroded fields in some key areas. The project carried out in the valley of the Jialing River alone, one of the tributaries of the Yangtze, has reduced sand content by 50 million tons per year in recent years.

In addition, some 955,000 hectares of farm land has returned to forest and 787,000 hectares trees and grass were planted in the mountainous area on the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze.

Soil erosion has been serious in areas along the Yangtze River including Yunnan, Sichuan and Hubei provinces and Chongqing Municipality.

The strategy to develop western China offers a rare historic chance for water conservation and soil erosion control along the upper and middle reaches of the river.

China has made plans to further reduce soil erosion along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in the next five years. More than 16,000 square kilometers of eroded land in the area will be saved.

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