Land-use Decisions: A Need for a Systems Approach toImprove South China's Degraded Lands

Walter Parham, Ph.D., DirectorChina Tropical Lands Research

Federation of American Scientists

web site: www.fas.org/china_landse-mail: narham305(a)aol.com

On the following pages are some representative examples of land-use practices in SouthChina as they relate to degraded land. These cases are drawn from my field observationsover the past fifteen years. Some examples show the land-use decisions to be effectiveand beneficial to improving degraded lands. However, others raise considerable concernbecause of the adverse unintended effects they produce.

Interdisciplinary assessments of land-use decisions need to include authoritativebiological, physical, economic, social and institutional input during the planning stages tohelp minimize unwanted impacts later on. Because Land-use Planning and TechnologyAssessment involve the analysis of similar systems, an interdisciplinary approach isdesirable and necessary in both processes.

Your comments and suggestions on the attached material are welcome. We hope toestablish a dialog with you regarding our continuing work on South China's degradedlands.

Oct. 14,2004

Mailing address: 1838 Horseback TrailVienna, Virginia 22182U.S.A.

Names of Delegates.on Land Use Planning/Environmental AssessmentMinistry of Land &. Resources, P.R.China

NameH uan}>XiaohuFeng Wcnli

Zhang Qing

Lu Yanxia

ZhengWeivuanMaXiangchenLu Weisen

UnaYuanchunLiu Xibin

Zhu Yajuan

PengChaohingGao Hcping

Liu Weide

Shi Yi l ian

Xiao Youfu

Ding Shouhe

ZhangMounianLi Deng(]in

SexMale

Female

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Female

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Female

OfficeChina Laud Science Association

China Land Surveying & PlanningInstituteChina Land Surveying & PlanningInstituteChina Land Surveying & PlanningInstituteChina Land Surveying & PlanningInst i tuteChina Land Surveying & PlanningInstituteLand & Resources Bureau of DaxingDistrict .Beijing MunicipalityLand Surveying and Planning Institute,Zhejiang ProvinceInformation Center of Land &Resources Bureau, Zhejiang ProvinceLand Using and Planning Institute.Hcbci ProvinceLand Resources Planning Institute,Hunan ProvinceLand Surveying & Planning Institute,Inner Mongolia AutonomyLand Surveying and Planning Institute,Henan ProvinceLand Surveying and Planning Institute,Hcnan Province

• Land & Resources Bureau of Jinz.houMunicipality, Hubci ProvinceLand Resources Bureau of GansuprovinceLand Sun-eying and Planning Ins t i tu te ,Shanxi ProvinceLand Surveying and Planning Institute,GuiZhou Province

PositionGeneral-Secretary

Director

Secretary

Engineer

Director

Engineer

Deputy Director

Senior Economist

Deputy-director

Director

Deputy-director

General-engineer

Director

General-Engineer

Deputy-Director

Division-director

Director

Senior-Engineer

Mangrove restoration: The mangrove forests of Qi'ao Island, near the city of Zhuhai,were severely damaged by firewoodcollectors until the early 1900s.In addition, egrets were hunted and theirhabitat destroyed. Efforts to restore themangroves have been effective and egrethunting has been stopped. As a result, themangroves protect the shore line fromerosion, provide habitat for egrets and a

^^_«^ ,̂ ^_ ^^_ place for river fish to breed and, thus, torJ I Il&^A K \ mcrease me f~lsh population. The increasedI <^ ^BlBiySil *lf population of egrets now attracts ecotourists

to the island providing a new income for the islanders.

Improving degraded lands with stereoagriculture: Degraded lands are widespread inGuangdong Province as a result of excessive tree cutting and damaging agriculturalpractices. Chinese researchers developed"stereoagriculture" (3-D agriculture) torepair the damage to once-productive hillylands. Conservation forests are planted onhill tops to slow erosion. Firewood trees,fruit trees, and medicinal crops are plantedon lower slopes where farm animals maygraze. On the valley floors, fish ponds areexcavated and fruit/vegetables planted onthe surrounding dikes. The farmers'economic income increases as the naturalenvironment is improved.

Reduced erosion and increased fruit production in degraded hill lands: Severe watererosion caused by damaging land-use practices adversely affected much of Wuhua

County, Guangdong Province until theearly 1990s. Natural resource expertsplanted vegetation on the eroded hills toslow erosion and dammed the valleymouth to trap water-borne sediment. In afew years, erosion slowed on the hills andsediment filled the reservoir behind thedam. Protective forests increased hillsidestabilization so much so that the sediment-filled reservoir could be used to grow fruittrees. Combined biological and

engineering techniques led to an improved natural environment and to improvedagricultural opportunities.

1000 years of damaging land-use practices to South China's monsoon tropicalforest: Population pressure and damaging land-use practices that began 1000 years ago

destroyed much of South China'smonsoon tropical forest. Excessive forest

^^•^•tt^te^^^ cutting and land clearance converted theoriginal forest cover to low productivitygrasslands like these on Lan Tau Island,Hong Kong. Even today during the dryseason, periodic fires caused mostly byhuman activities, sweep across the dry-grass landscape further diminishing theremaining plant and animal species thatlive here. The combination of historic and

current land uses here narrows options for recovery.

Today's Litchi/longan production may be beneficial yet harmful: Litchi and longanproduction began to expand rapidly across western Guangdong Province in_lj?90. Hilly,eroded degraded lands were converted tofruit production providing new economicbenefits to the farmers. Continuedexpansion since then however has set thestage for new problems. Because the fruitproduction was so beneficialeconomically, farmers extended theirplanting up steep hillsides highlysusceptible to erosion. In addition, manyfarmers used and continue to use low-costcity wastes, which included medicalwastes, to fertilize the fruit trees. Workers handle the wastes and, erosion exposes thewaste to the environment. The long-term effects of such land-use decisions need carefulattention at the start to avoid possible adverse impacts later.

Tree planting to stabilize moving sand dunes and a cooking fuel concern: Loss offorest cover in the hills surrounding Lufeng, Guangdong led to severe soil erosionproblems and coastal sandstorms. Sand covered farm fields and some villages were

abandoned. Trees planted to stop thedrifting sand were effective. However,local people were allowed to rake up litterunder the trees for cooking fuel. Itscontinual removal stopped nutrients fromreturning to the soil. When trees died,replacement seedlings also died for lack of

,, _ soil nutrients. These land-use decisions^•I^^^^H 1 needed to be assessed in a systems fashion

at the start to avoid such problems later.