Editing IPCC:AR6/SRCCL/Chapter-3 (section)

==== 3.7.2.1 The experiences of combating desertification in China ====

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Arid and semi-arid areas of China, including north-eastern, northern and north-western regions, cover an area of more than 509 Mha, with annual rainfall of below 450 mm. Over the past several centuries, more than 60% of the areas in arid and semi-arid regions were used as pastoral and agricultural lands. The coupled impacts of past climate change and human activity have caused desertification and dust storms to become a serious problem in the region (Xu et al. 2010). In 1958, the Chinese government recognised that desertification and dust storms jeopardised the livelihoods of nearly 200 million people, and afforestation programmes for combating desertification have been initiated since 1978. China is committed to go beyond the Land Degradation Neutrality objective, as indicated by the following programmes that have been implemented. The Chinese Government began the Three North’s Forest Shelterbelt programme in Northeast China, North China, and Northwest China, with the goal to combat desertification and to control dust storms by improving forest cover in arid and semi-arid regions. The project is implemented in three stages (1978–2000, 2001–2020 and 2021–2050). In addition, the Chinese government launched the Beijing and Tianjin Sandstorm Source Treatment Project (2001–2010), Returning Farmlands to Forest Project (2003–present), and the Returning Grazing Land to Grassland Project (2003–present) to combat desertification, and for adaptation and mitigation of climate change (State Forestry Administration of China 2015 <sup>[[#fn:r1566|1566]]</sup> ; Wang 2014 <sup>[[#fn:r1567|1567]]</sup> ; Wang et al. 2013 <sup>[[#fn:r1568|1568]]</sup> ).

The results of the fifth monitoring period (2010–2014) showed: (i) compared with 2009, the area of degraded land decreased by 12,120 km <sup>2</sup> over a five-year period; (ii) in 2014, the average coverage of vegetation in the sand area was 18.33%, an increase of 0.7% compared with 17.63% in 2009, and the carbon sequestration increased by 8.5%; (iii) compared with 2009, the amount of wind erosion decreased by 33%, the average annual occurrence of sandstorms decreased by 20.3% in 2014; (iv) as of 2014, 203,700 km <sup>2</sup> of degraded land were effectively managed, accounting for 38.4% of the 530,000 km <sup>2</sup> of manageable desertified land; (v) the restoration of degraded land has created an annual output of 53.63 Mt of fresh and dried fruits, accounting for 33.9% of the total national annual output of fresh and dried fruits (State Forestry Administration of China 2015 <sup>[[#fn:r1570|1570]]</sup> ). This has become an important pillar for economic development and a high priority for peasants as a method to eradicate poverty (State Forestry Administration of China 2015 <sup>[[#fn:r1571|1571]]</sup> ).

Stable investment mechanisms for combating desertification have been established along with tax relief policies and financial support policies for guiding the country in its fight against desertification. The investments in scientific and technological innovation for combating desertification have been improved, the technologies for vegetation restoration under drought conditions have been developed, the popularisation and application of new technologies has been accelerated, and the training of technicians to assist farmers and herdsmen has been strengthened. To improve the monitoring capability and technical level of desertification studies, the monitoring network system has been strengthened, and the popularisation and application of modern technologies have been intensified (e.g., information technology and remote sensing) (Wu et al. 2015). Special laws on combating desertification have been decreed by the government. The provincial government’s responsibilities for desertification prevention and controlling objectives and laws have been strictly implemented.

Many studies showed that these projects generally played an active role in combating desertification and fighting against dust storms in China over the past several decades ( ''high confidence'' ) (Cao et al. 2018; State Forestry Administration of China 2015; Wang et al. 2013 <sup>[[#fn:r1573|1573]]</sup> ; Wang et al. 2014 <sup>[[#fn:r1574|1574]]</sup> ; Yang et al. 2013 <sup>[[#fn:r1576|1576]]</sup> ). At the beginning of the projects, some problems appeared in some places due to lack of enough knowledge and experience ( ''low confidence'' ) (Jiang 2016 <sup>[[#fn:r1578|1578]]</sup> ; Wang et al. 2010 <sup>[[#fn:r1579|1579]]</sup> ). For example, some tree species selected were not well suited to local soil and climatic conditions (Zhu et al. 2007), and there was inadequate consideration of the limitation of the amount of available water on the carrying capacity of trees in some arid regions (Dai 2011; Feng et al. 2016 <sup>[[#fn:r1580|1580]]</sup> ) (Section 3.6.4). In addition, at the beginning of the projects, there was an inadequate consideration of the effects of climate change on combating desertification (Feng et al. 2015 <sup>[[#fn:r1581|1581]]</sup> ; Tan and Li 2015). Indeed, climate change and human activities over past years have influenced the desertification and dust storm control effects in China (Feng et al. 2015 <sup>[[#fn:r1582|1582]]</sup> ; Wang et al. 2009 <sup>[[#fn:r1583|1583]]</sup> ; Tan and Li 2015), and future climate change will bring new challenges for combating desertification in China (Wang et al. 2017 <sup>[[#fn:r1584|1584]]</sup> ; Yin et al. 2015; Xu et al. 2019). In particular, the desertification risk in China will be enhanced at 2°C compared to 1.5°C global temperature rise (Ma et al. 2018). Adapting desertification control to climate change involves: improving the adaptation capacity to climate change for afforestation and grassland management by executing SLM practices; optimising the agricultural and animal husbandry structure; and using big data to meet the water resources regulation (Zhang and Huisingh 2018 <sup>[[#fn:r1588|1588]]</sup> ). In particular, improving scientific and technological supports in desertification control is crucial for adaptation to climate change and combating desertification, including protecting vegetation in desertification-prone lands by planting indigenous plant species, facilitating natural restoration of vegetation to conserve biodiversity, employing artificial rain or snow, water-saving irrigation and water storage technologies (Jin et al. 2014; Yang et al. 2013 <sup>[[#fn:r1589|1589]]</sup> ).

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