China restores 3.07 million hectares of grassland annually

In recent years, China has advanced grassland restoration and management, rehabilitating 3.07 million hectares of grassland annually, said the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA), according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The total investment allocated by the central government for grassland protection and restoration during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period reached 110 billion yuan ($15 billion), with annual rodent and pest control covering surpassing 6.67 million hectares and fresh grass output exceeding 550 million tons, said Li Yongjun, an official from NFGA, at a press conference on Tuesday, the World Earth Day. 

"Grassland ecological quality in regions involved in the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, a large-scale afforestation project, has steadily improved," Li said, adding that the Horqin Sandy Land in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is gradually restoring its former landscape, sand sources affecting Beijing and North China's Tianjin Municipality have significantly diminished, and the national ecological security barrier has become more robust.

The forestry and grassland authorities have successfully safeguarded grassland resources by launching joint special campaigns to combat illegal grassland reclamation and unauthorized occupation, according to the press conference. 

Since 2018, nearly 50,000 cases of grassland destruction have been investigated nationwide, with over 1,000 suspected criminal cases transferred to judicial authorities, said the report.

Meanwhile, regions across China have accelerated the transformation of traditional grassland livestock production methods through measures such as expanding artificial grass planting and enforcing grazing bans and livestock-carrying capacity balancing systems, promoting grassland recovery, per Xinhua.

In addition to achievements in grassland restoration and management, China has recently successfully developed its first large-scale model for the forestry and grassland sector called ForestDragon, marking a new phase in the country's forestry and grassland development with digital help, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Zhang Huaiqing, head of the research team and Chief Scientist of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, said ForestDragon integrates domain-specific knowledge of forestry and grassland, improving its capability to address complex sectoral challenges by over 60 percent. 

ForestDragon has been implemented in eight major application scenarios, including tree species identification, wildlife recognition, and pest and disease monitoring, according to the ministry.

It is also being utilized in demonstration zones, national parks, and state-owned forest farms involved in the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, operating stably and reliably. 

However, officials also noted that the situation for grassland protection and restoration remains severe, with approximately 70 percent of grasslands still degraded to varying degrees. 

This is due to China's grasslands being predominantly located in arid, semi-arid and high-altitude regions with harsh natural conditions, making restoration and management exceptionally challenging, said Li.

The forestry and grassland departments will continue to intensify grassland protection and restoration efforts, aiming to build a comprehensive grassland resource protection system and a robust grass-based industry system, per Xinhua.