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Xinjiang: Grasslands & Vegetation Seriously Damaged
Natural grassland in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has by now witnessed a serious degeneration, desertification and salinization, which has now turned out to be a major "bottleneck" for restricting a further and sustainable development of animal husbandry and social economy in the area.
Xinjiang claims 57.2588m hectares of natural grassland. Last June statistics tells 80 percent of the grassland are deteriorating at an annual rate of 0.5 percent. Xinjiang Daily says since the 80s, over 7m hectare lush grasslands have been 'reclaimed' for farmland or other uses, with more than 266,700 hectares devastated annually by human activities.
Experts point out that to create favorable environment for grass growing we must encourage grassland contract and vigorously develop artificial grasslands by air sowing. And on top of that, efforts must be made to rationally recover forests or grasslands from farmland according to the law of nature and local conditions.
By PD Online staff member Li Heng
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