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Reforestation projects in China:
A huge success or just an illusion?
China has implemented an ambitious reforestation program that has significantly increased forest cover over the past decade, but scientists are now questioning the effectiveness of these ambitious plans.
excerpt
In China, deforestation caused severe environmental degradation as early as 2,000 years ago, when the great waterway once known simply as the Yellow River began to change significantly. Trees along the riverbanks were cut down, eliminating the root systems that controlled erosion and allowing large amounts of sediment to flow into the river that would later be known as the Yellow River.
In the years after World War II, as its population exploded and massive industrialization was in full swing, China became the epicenter of deforestation, clearing land for everything from growing more food to fueling steel furnaces. Lately, however, China appears to be reversing that trend, largely through a massive reforestation campaign. According to a 2011 United Nations report, in the first decade of the new millennium, China added 11,500 square miles of forest cover each year, an area the size of Massachusetts.
But scientists and environmental groups are beginning to raise concerns about the long-term viability of key aspects of China’s reforestation drive. Most worrisome is the widespread planting of non-native tree species, many of which die because they require too much water and are not suited to the arid regions where they are planted. China is also planting large monoculture plantations that contain little biodiversity.
Some international conservation groups have worked with Chinese partners to conduct small-scale reforestation and grassland restoration projects using native species, but whether these projects can help China usher in a new era of more ecologically sound reforestation remains to be seen.
Read the full article: Environment 360
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