articleNature CommunicationsFeb 28, 2023GOLD OA

Unintended consequences of combating desertification in China

Chinese Academy of Sciences · Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research · +16 more institutions

PubMed
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Abstract

Abstract Since the early 2000s, China has carried out extensive “grain-for-green” and grazing exclusion practices to combat desertification in the desertification-prone region (DPR). However, the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of these practices remain unclear. We quantify and compare the changes in fractional vegetation cover (FVC) with economic and population data in the DPR before and after the implementation of these environmental programmes. Here we show that climatic change and CO 2 fertilization are relatively strong drivers of vegetation rehabilitation from 2001-2020 in the DPR, and the declines in the direct incomes of farmers and herders caused by ecological practices exceed the subsidies…

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