Expert praises efforts to protect environment
For more than 10 years Monique Barbut, a former executive secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the French president’s special envoy for biodiversity, has been committed to making the Earth a better place by tackling environmental problems.
Having visited China many times, Barbut said she was impressed most by her first visit to areas affected by land desertification in China in 2004, the second year of her official term as UNCCD executive secretary.
During the trip she went to Baijitan Desertification Control Farm in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region and met the farm’s head Wang Youde, who made a deep impression on her for his efforts in fighting desertification.
Wang, born in 1953, has spent most of his life on the farm. In the past few decades he has led his colleagues in building 154 square miles of sand fixation forest and managed to control nearly 257 square miles of sandy land, effectively stopping the Maowusu Desert from expanding.
Barbut said: “It’s amazing that a man was able to save local farmers on low incomes and battling a harsh environment through restoration of the degraded land and development of a land-based economy, planning diversified cash plants, goji berry, and dates, and boosting development of environmental tourism.”
The trip also gave her the chance to visit Kubuqi Desert in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, where a green miracle is being realized, with the turning of barren land and sand hazards to forest and grassland vegetation and agroforestry to support local livelihoods.
Barbut also visited China in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. “In different areas of the country, each time I find new progress, which makes the region more beautiful in its landscape and more developed in all aspects,” she said.
According to NASA, about 25% of the world’s increased green leaf area from 2000 to 2017 came from China.
Between 2016 and 2020 China established many natural reserves, covering 18% of its total territorial land. Those reserves protect 90% of the country’s plants and 85% of the wild animals, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration said.
Last year alone 26,000 square miles of forest was planted and more than 7,722 square miles of sandy land was brought under control through vegetation improvement.
Also, the country initiated its first pilot program to build grassland nature parks last year, with 39 pilots having been started, covering a total of 568 square miles of grassland in 11 provinces and autonomous regions.
Barbut said she is impressed by the government’s ability to take action and mobilize the participation of the whole of society to protect the environment and tackle problems or related threats.
“The Chinese government takes commitments seriously. Once the decision is made, all factors in society could be mobilized for implementation. Other factors that are also important include confidence and persistence, the principle of respecting science and respecting nature, and caring about people.”
China’s greening efforts have not only improved its environment, but also benefited the people. Last year the total output value of the forestry industry reached 7.55 trillion yuan ($1.16 trillion), the National Forestry and Grassland Administration said.
In August a senior official of the administration announced the country’s greening aim in the next five years, in which forest coverage will hit 24.1% by 2025.
“China has been running ahead, from land use planning, sustainable land management to related land-based business development,” Barbut said. “It has achieved ‘zero net growth’ in desertification and has achieved a continuous yearly reduction in the area of desertification.”
She is familiar with China’s “Two Mountains Theory”, she said, which dictates that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, a key concept developed by President Xi Jinping that guides the country’s sustainable agenda.
“This remark shares the essence of the basic concept of natural capital developed in the Western world,” she said.
“We all agree good ecosystems are the natural capital of social economic development,” She said. “Human beings must treat natural resources as invaluable
assets, to conserve, protect and respect those resources and sustainably use them.”
She said the theory goes very well with the idea behind ecosystem conservation, rehabilitation of degraded land to improve livelihoods and the environment, and finally land degradation neutrality.
“We must never destroy nature to develop. If we do the right things, in the right places at the right scale, we can live in harmony with nature and still achieve remarkable growth,” she said.
Barbut emphasizes that China has decades of science-based experience in combating land degradation. “Sharing its experience could help promote and benefit the sustainable development of the countries around the world.”
Citing the country’s “three north forest shelterbelt” program as an example, Barbut said the program, commonly known as the Green Great Wall, has vastly improved local vegetation coverage, significantly reduced the intensity of dust storms and has also given people not just hope, but a bright future.
She said the program indicated the long-lasting dedication of the Chinese people and long-term persistent policy and strategy of the government. It also demonstrates the way and mechanism to ensure success in the long term.
“At the international level, it also gives confidence to the world that desertification is treatable and curable. Local livelihoods can be obviously improved with improvement of ecological services and recovery of natural resources,” Barbut said.
“We hope for strengthened cooperation in combating desertification, responding to climate change, and conserving biodiversity in parallel with international trade cooperation in the future. Then, strengthening cooperation in environmental protection along with trade cooperation will be very important for the sustainable development of all mankind,” she said.
“It (China) has achieved ‘zero net growth’ in desertification and has achieved a continuous yearly reduction in the area of desertification.”