Abstract
Forests cover four billion hectares (31%) of the Earth’s landmass and contain over 75% of all carbon in vegetation. They provide renewable raw materials and natural amenities, protect land and water resources, harbor biological diversity, and mitigate climate change. However, due to less precipitation, the forest coverage rate is only 5.86% in Northwest China. The forests in these arid areas are mainly distributed in alpine areas, which play a key role in runoff regulation and ensure the ecological and economic development of the middle and lower reaches of the inland basins. In the past several decades, China had experienced large-scale deforestation and reforestation. What were the changes of the few forest areas and growing stock in arid Northwest China? Has forest quality been restored? Changes of that had been analyzed in this article. The results showed that the forest area and growing stock decreased greatly from the 1950s to 1970s; the artificial forest area increased clearly; the natural forest area stabilized from the 1980s, growing stock of forest per unit area was still lower than that in the 1950s; and the forest quality had not yet been restored. Results of the analysis of influencing factors showed that the policy-led human activities in different periods were the efficient cause of forest changes in Northwest China. With the development of forestry science, more and more attention has been paid to forest ecological restoration. “Three-North Shelter Forest Program (TNSFP)” in 1978 had made great progress on forest areas by afforestation, and the ecological benefits and economic benefits also increased remarkably owing to the increase in the artificial forest area. In recent years, great progress on forest areas has been made by afforestation, and the forests also contribute significantly to the ecology and economy. However, large-scale afforestation in the Loess Plateau had caused a phenomenon of large investment and little effect on water conservation in some afforestation areas, which showed that afforestation initiated under different polices, which were not always scientifically based, resulted in unintended consequences. Clear ecological principles should be used to ensure best environmental and forest ecology outcomes.
Highlights
The forest coverage rate of China is 22.96%, while the forest coverage rate of Northwest China is only 5.86% (F.M.O.C, 2019), and it is the lowest compared with northeast, north, south, and southwest China
The forests in Northwest China are mainly concentrated in a few high-altitude areas
The latest investigation on soil and water conservation ecology in the Loess Plateau of China showed that the vegetation coverage on the Loess Plateau had increased from 31.6% in 1999 to 59.6% in 2013 through vegetation restoration and reconstruction
Summary
Forests are the main body and important resource of terrestrial ecosystem, which cover four billion hectares (31%) of the Earth’s landmass and contain over 75% of carbon in vegetation (F.A.O, 2010). The series of misguided development policies had lasted almost 20 years and directly led the reduction of forest areas and growing stock It was not until the late 1970s that the national forestry sector realized the mistakes and began to protect forests and plant trees, which resulted in the increase of forests. Average annual precipitation is below 400 mm in most areas of Northwest China, which is not conducive to forest growth In these areas, forests suffered damage as a result of some natural forces and unreasonable human activities in the past decades, which caused a series of ecological problems, such as desertification, aggravated soil erosion, increasing dust weather, and so on. The implementation of this measure has significantly increased forest coverage in Northwest China, effectively controlled soil desertification, improved soil erosion and air quality in some areas, and protected biodiversity, which has brought about certain economic benefits.
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