Impacts of China's National Highway Network Plan on Ecologically Sensitive Areas

Abstract

Although China's 2013 National Highway Network Plan promotes large-scale socio-economic growth, the implementation of this plan will result in ecological degradation. This study focused on assessing the possible impacts of the National Highway Network Plan on ecologically sensitive areas. The results showed that 7,653.8 km, 12,219.0 km, and 6,057.4 km of highway described in the Plan will cross soil erosion zones, sandy desertification zones, and rocky desertification zones respectively. Consequently, there is real potential for the planned highway network to cause ecological problems. The greatest impacts of the new expressways will occur in soil erosion and rocky desertification zones. The impacts of expressways, ordinary national highways, and planned future routes on sandy desertification zones will be great, as well. The longer stretches of routes likely to cross ecologically sensitive areas were identified, and corresponding ecological protection measures proposed. The study results are a basis for ameliorating highway planning and reducing the ecological impacts of highway construction.