China's efforts to curb desertification have made substantial progress in recent years and contributed solutions to global environmental governance, Minister of Natural Resources Guan Zhi'ou said on Tuesday.
Guan made the remarks in a group interview after the closing meeting of the third annual session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
"A total of 5.07 million hectares of deserts have been brought under control. Substantial progress has been made in the three major landmark projects. The TSFP in the new era pays more attention to the innovation of governance mechanisms and models, and to the integration of ecological, social, and economic benefits," Guan told reporters.
"In real practice, the use of photovoltaic technology for desertification control has gained dual benefits with power generation on solar panels and crop planting beneath them. The pathways opened for desertification control have become routes to enrich the local people. By hiring locals to work in exchange for assistance, people have reaped tangible benefits right at their doorsteps. In Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region alone, we allocated 1.5 billion yuan (around 206.6 million U.S. dollars) to pay for the labor in desertification control, enabling over 200,000 people to find jobs at their doorway," he said.
The TSFP, the world's largest afforestation program launched in 1978 and scheduled to be completed by 2050, aims to rehabilitate and green desert-prone lands and desertified areas in northeast, north and northwest China.
"The TSFP in the new era also focuses more on enhancing international cooperation and exchanges, and contributing Chinese wisdom and solutions to global desertification management. At the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) held in Saudi Arabia at the end of last year, the Chinese pavilion demonstrating our achievements in desertification prevention and control garnered wide acclaims," said the minister.
Guan said that a series of new products China, such as vibrating sand compactors and smart tree planting technologies, grabbed the limelight at the Saudi event.
The TSFP has entered a new period of construction now, with various desert control teams dedicated once again mobilized to continue their efforts and win the battle against desertification, he said.
Minister on desertification control progress, int'l cooperation
Minister on desertification control progress, int'l cooperation
