Taking Down the “Great Green Wall”: The Science and Policy Discourse of Desertification and Its Control in China

Abstract

Desertification is a serious problem in China and various research studies and surveys have been conducted to address the issue. The Chinese government has launched the ambitious “Great Green Wall” tree-planting programme to control desertification. But problems abound. This chapter reviews the scientific studies of desertification in China, and highlights their many inconsistencies, connecting them with political control and policy discourses. I point out that the State Forestry Administration, the institution in charge of desertification study and control, has adopted an ineffective tree-focused approach through the “Great Green Wall” programme. Even though the programme has included the establishment of shrubs and other vegetation types in addition to tree planting, the underlying aggressive attitude toward the environment remains, rendering it difficult for the problem of desertification to be addressed fundamentally. This chapter calls for the Chinese government to abandon the dominating relationship with the environment embodied in the “Great Green Wall” programme.