| Abstract: | Sandy desertification is a land degradation characterized by wind erosion, mainly resulted from the excessive human activities in arid, semiarid and part of sub-humid regions in North China. It is one of main kinds of desertification/land degradation as well as water-soil erosion and salinization in China. Rapid and continuous spread of sandy desertification during last 50 years has created a major environmental and socio-economic problem in North China. Remote sensing monitored results in 2000 showed that the sandy desertified land area has been 38.57×104 km2. The area of potential to slightly sandy desertified land is 13.93×104 km2, moderately land 9.977×104 km2, severely land 7.909×104 km2 and very severely land 6.756×104km2. Sandy desertification mainly occurs in the semi-arid mixed farming-grazing zone and its northern rangeland zone, semi-arid dryland rainfed cropping zone and arid oasis-desert margin zone. The average annually developmental rate of sandy desertified land increased from 2,100tion in North China is "overall deterioration, while local rehabilitation". Already achieved rehabilitation results and monitoring assessment show that about 60% of desertified land in North China can be restored under the conditions of rational land-use ways and intensity. |
