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Desertification and Reforestation

In Northwest China’s Loess Plateau, an area roughly the size of France and the birthplace of Chinese civilization, agriculture and grazing practices over thousands of years have transformed the once lush forests into a dry and degraded ecosystem. As the yellow loess soil eroded, the silt raised the riverbed, causing seasonal flooding by the Yellow River. This, in turn, is bringing drought and famine. The Yellow River, also known as “China’s Sorrow” has flooded more than 1,500 times.

In 1995, The World Bank and the Chinese government began the “Loess Plateau Watershed Rehabilitation Project”-its largest development project to date. It ambitiously set out to restore what was destroyed over 10,000 years. Working with Chinese planners from the Ministry of Water Resources, international planners from the World Bank managed, over a span of 10 years, to reshape the hydrology, soil dynamics, forestry, agriculture practices, and economic viability of the land. Radically restructuring local land use practices and engaging villagers to participate, the Project resulted in vast ecological improvements and new economic opportunities for the locals. “The Lessons of the Loess Plateau” is a hopeful representation of how to protect our natural systems, even those previously thought impossible to save.

This video is a trimmed-down version of an hour-long film by John D. Liu (see contact information with the Environmental Education Media Project). Re-edited by Ariane Wu.

5 Responses to “The Lessons of the Loess Plateau”

  1. Hannah Says:
    December 17th, 2009 at 3:21 pm

    what do the loess plateau ppl eat?

  2. Maskil Says:
    December 10th, 2009 at 3:29 pm

    @Chao Shang, you can find the full-length version of the documentary here (among other places):
    Environmental Education Media Project - The Lessons of the Loess Plateau
    http://eempc.org/the-lessons-of-the-loess-plate/index.html

  3. Zi Tengyang Says:
    November 19th, 2009 at 5:38 am

    This video shows that the government is very important in land rehabilitation

  4. Chao Shang Says:
    November 14th, 2009 at 11:09 pm

    The article and video present exactly what I want to know. I am a soil scientist and very interested in land rehabilitation in the area. How can I obtain the full hour long film? and also information regarding what people can do with the rehabilitation project, what has be done and what are the factors to overcome? Thanks.

  5. Muhammad Nawaz Says:
    September 29th, 2009 at 7:09 am

    It is an excellent example of how a government policy was implemented with local community participation. There is much food for thought for politicians, planners and managers around the world and a lesson to learn that how a sincere committment could transform the lives of impoverished people.

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