Yong, Jiao

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University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky UKnowledge International Grassland Congress Proceedings XXI International Grassland Congress / VIII International Rangeland Congress Water Resources Development and Utilization in the Pastoral Area of China and Grassland Ecological Protection Jiao Yong Ministry of Water Resources, China Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc  Part of the Plant Sciences Commons, and the Soil Science Commons This document is available at https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/21/24-1/2 The XXI International Grassland Congress / VIII International Rangeland Congress took place in Hohhot, China from June 29 through July 5, 2008. Proceedings edited by Organizing Committee of 2008 IGC/IRC Conference Published by Guangdong People's Publishing House This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Plant and Soil Sciences at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Grassland Congress Proceedings by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact UKnowledge@lsv.uky.edu. 　 Multifunctional Grasslands in a Changing World 　 Volume Ⅱ 　 瞯 ]1137　 瞯Grasslands/Rangelands People and Policies——— China Grassland/Rangeland Forum (no posters)Water resources development and utilization in the pastoral area of China and grasslandecological protectionJiao YongMinistry o f W ater Resources o f the Peop le摧s Republic o f China ,Bei j ing100053 ,ChinaLadies and gentlemen ,It is my pleasure to attend this China Forum at the invitation of committee of Joint Meeting of the International GrasslandCongress and the International Rangeland Congress to discuss the situation of water resources in pastoral area and grasslandecological protection issues and share our experiences with the experts and scholars .China is a big grassland country in the world .Meanwhile it is also one of the most arid grasslands in the world .To study theChinese grassland ecological protection ,especially the water resources guarantee of the protection not only has direct guidingsignificance to it but also has important reference value to other relevant countries .Now I would briefly introduce ,from the perspective of water conservancy ,the basic condition and problems in the pastoral areaof China ,influence of water conservancy construction to grassland ecological protection ,basic approach and main mode ofdeveloping water conservancy to protect grassland ecology as well as the water conservancy actions on future grasslandecological protection in China .The basic condition and problems in the pastoral area of ChinaThe pastoral area in China mainly distributes in over ４００ counties and leagues in １４ provinces and the autonomous regions suchas Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang and so on .It covers a total area of ４ .４２ million km２ ,in which the grassland area is about ２７０million hm２ and the utilizable grassland is ２３０ million hm２ .The total population in the pastoral area is ５０ million ,of which thelivestock‐raising population is １０ million .In China ,most of the pastoral area is in drought or semi‐drought regions with rare rainfall and strong evaporation .So the waterresources are not enough ,the wind and sandstorms are frequent and the ecology is fragile .Among the utilizable grassland of ２３０million hm２ ,the annual rainfall in １２０ million hm２ grassland is ２００ to ４００ mm and that in ４０ million hm２ grassland is below２００mm .The above‐mentioned two conditions determine that the basic problem in the pastoral area is the contradiction betweenproduction development and ecological protection .On one hand ,with the increasing of herdsmen population and improvement ofliving standard ,the production such as livestock husbandry require constant development ; on the other hand ,due to the climatechange and the influence of human activities ,degradation of different degrees have occurred on grassland and the stockingcapacity has obviously decreased ,which poses a threat to the regional ecological security .Therefore ,to study the solution to theprotection and development of the pastoral area in China must have new approach and methods .We should restrain the constantdeterioration of grasslands and improve the production condition and living environment of herders .The government shoulddevelop technologies and promote applicable production modes to meet the requirements of production development ,so as toreduce human beings摧 Exploitation and Plundering ?? on grassland resources and realize the win‐win objective of ecologicalimprovement and production development . In the process of pursuing the objective , water conservancy has irreplaceablefunction .Influence of water conservancy construction in the Pastoral area to grassland ecological protection and restorationMost of the pastoral areas in China are located at the main river source area and they are also important ecological barriers ofChina ,so protecting the grassland ecology in the pastoral areas has great significance to the sustainable development of thewhole economic society and the sustainable utilization of water resources .The reason why water conservancy is helpful to solvethe existing problems in the grassland pastoral area is that developing the water conservancy focusing on irrigation forage landscan greatly improve the grass output of unit area and reduce the excessively dependence of livestock on natural grasslands .Inthis way ,not only the forage requirement of livestock is guaranteed but also partial natural grasslands can rest grazing .In thelast ２０ years ,centering on how to improve the carrying capacity of the grasslands to provide basic guarantee for economicdevelopment and grassland ecological protection by water conversancy measures , the governments at all levels , relevantdepartments and units have constantly explored and summed up relevant solutions .In view of serious contradiction betweengrass and livestock and the severe situation of constant deterioration of grassland ecology ,the Chinese government started waterconversancy pilot project construction since ２００１ .In the pastoral area with water resources condition of Inner Mongolia ,Xinjiang ,Gansu and so forth , the government has developed the water conservancy construction focusing on water‐savingirrigation forage lands to solve the forage supply problem of livestock and conducted fenced rotational grazing ,spelling andbanning grazing on large‐area natural grasslands with the combination of measures such as stall‐feeding and semi‐stall feeding .The pilot project not only plays the function of �building small oasis to protect big ecology" ,but also has effectively improvedthe anti‐disaster capability of animal husbandry ,increased the income of herders and improved their living conditions .Accordingto the experiences in pilot project districts ,the grass output on １hm２ of irrigated forage approximately equals that on ４０ hm２ ofmedium drought grassland .It not only effectively protects the natural grasslands but also the annual per capita income in the瞯 ]1138　 瞯 　 Multifunctional Grasslands in a Changing World 　 Volume Ⅱ 　Grasslands/Rangelands People and Policies——— China Grassland/Rangeland Forum (no posters)Project district is RMB ２ ,０００ more than that in the non‐project district .By the end of ２００７ ,the whole country had built about１ .０７ million hm２ irrigated forage lands ,which has supplied forage for more than ２１ million sheep and provided basic support forthe ecological protection of ４０ million hm２ of natural grasslands .Practice proves that the water conservancy constructions in thepastoral area is favorable to grassland ecological protection and regional ecology maintenance ,and is beneficial to economicdevelopment of the pastoral area and the income increasing of herders .Moreover ,it can find the combination point of them incertain extent to realize win‐win .Basic approach and main mode to develop water resources in the Pastoral area to protect grassland ecologyA .Basic Approach .Years of practices has developed the approach on developing the water conservancy to restore grasslandecology which can be summarized into the following three points : １ ) .we must fully exert the self‐restoration capability ofnature .By taking measures ,on the precondition of stable production ,withdraw over‐stocked livestock from natural grasslandsand migrate people and livestock out of severe degraded grassland to allow the natural rehabilitation takes place .This is the keyto protect and improve grassland ecology .２ ) .to realize the �double win" objective of economic development and ecologicalprotection must change the traditional production and management mode of animal husbandry ,so that the grazing capacity canbe reasonably controlled .３ ) .to develop the water conservancy with irrigation forage lands as the main content can greatlyimprove the unit grass output and quality .It is the precondition and basic guarantee to change production and management modeof animal husbandry and exert the self‐restoration capability of nature .B .Main Patterns .There are mainly three patterns about water conservancy construction in the pastoral area .First ,to equip andimprove current irrigation facilities for partially irrigated forage land which has severe water waste ?problem through increasinginvestment ,introducing advanced technologies etc .Secondly ,build new water‐saving irrigated forage land .To construct watersaving irrigation facilities in areas which has feasible accesses to water resources ,and develop various high‐efficiency watersaving irrigated forage lands .There are three main types of land according to local conditions : family irrigated forage lands ,multi‐families irrigated forage lands and irrigated forage base .Thirdly ,adjust the existing plantation ? structure to increase thearea of irrigated forage lands .Part of the cropping land could be equipped with irrigation facilities and be developed into high‐efficient water saving irrigated forage land ,through which animal husbandry could be enhanced and bigger scale of ecologicalprotection is achievable .Water conservancy actions on future grassland ecological protection in ChinaThe water conservancy construction in China is undergoing reform .In this reform ,more attention is paid to the harmonybetween human and nature ,and ecology construction promotion is put on the prominent position .The future water conservancywork in the pastoral area will highly respect the nature and science and pay attention to the self‐restoration capability of thenature .We will reasonably develop and use the water resources in the pastoral area to protect the grasslands in the pastoral areaand promote the harmonious development of the economic society and resources environment .(1) Accelerating the water conservancy facility construction in the pastoral area The construction will take water‐saving irrigationforage lands as the main content .Focusing on the areas of the middle part of Inner Mongolia ,northern Xinjiang ,the source ofthe three rivers in Qinghai Province and the surrounding area of Qinghai Lake ,in southern Gansu Province ,northern SichuanProvince etc . ,it is planned to develop ２ .５４ million hm２ of new water‐saving irrigated forage lands by the end of ２０２０ .Theannual forage output can increase by ３７ .４ billion kg ,which could provide forage for more than ５０ million sheep .This will helprestore and protect the ecological environment of １７０ million hm２ of natural grassland .The basic balance between grass andlivestock can be achieved ,and the grassland degradation phenomenon resulting from overstocking will be eliminated .Rely onself‐restoration capability of natural grasslands to enable the natural grassland ecology to gradually move towards the virtuouscircle .(2) Enhancing the management of the development and utilization of water resources To enhance the irrigation forage landsconstruction must be on the premise of the rational development ,utilization and protection of water resources .The developmentand utilization of water resources must be guided by the regional and catchment water resources management plan . Theargumentation ?as well as examination and approval rules on water resources of the construction project should be strictlyimplemented .In particular ,the grassland摧s underground water should be protected ; the scientific and rational exploitation rangeand volume should be defined ,and the underground water resources摧 dynamic monitoring should be reinforced during theproject摧s implementing process .The exploitation plans should be promptly adjusted when problems are discovered .Meanwhilethe comprehensive utilization of administrative ,economic and technical means should be adopted to enhance water measurementand management ,strictly enforce water saving policy and improve water use efficiency .The reasonable pricing mechanism andcharging system should also be established to promote the saving and protection of water resources .(3) Strengthening the management and research work Due to scarce rainfall and fragile ecology in most of the grasslands ofChina ,the development and utilization of the water resources is very sensitive .Therefore , the reasonable development andutilization should be made on the basis of the scientific planning to actually realize �the small‐scale construction and the large‐scale protection ." The influence on water resources in the grasslands brought by the global climate changes should beparticularly analyzed ,so as to adjust the threshold value of the development and utilization of the water resources according to　 Multifunctional Grasslands in a Changing World 　 Volume Ⅱ 　 瞯 ]1139　 瞯Grasslands/Rangelands People and Policies——— China Grassland/Rangeland Forum (no posters)the new situation .The research of the water requirement mechanism of the pasture grass on the grasslands and the irrigationsystem of the artificial ? grasslands should be further strengthened so as to provide scientific evidence for the large‐scalepromotion of the water‐saving irrigation of forage lands .According to the actual development of economic society ,enhance themanagement system and operational mechanism study of water conservancy projects in pastoral area to ensure the affordableestablishment ,better management and long‐term benefits of various hydraulic engineering projects .Ladies and gentlemen , it is the common responsibility of humanity to protect the ecological environment . The Chinesegovernment has determined to vigorously develop ecological civilization ,establish the resource‐saving and environment‐f riendlysociety ,and march along the more orderly ,healthier and more rational development road ,and has formulated a series ofecological protection plans .With the implementation of various plans , the water conservancy work aiming at ecologicalprotection in pastoral area will be further developed and the ecological protection of grasslands will be further strengthened .TheInner Mongolia Autonomous Region is one of the earliest regions in the development of the ecological protection and restorationof the Chinese grasslands with conspicuous results .Everybody is welcome to conduct field survey in Inner Mongolia and otherprovinces .Finally ,on behalf of the Ministry of Water Resource of the People摧s Republic of China ,I would like to express our sinceregratitude to International Grassland Congress and the International Rangeland Congress committees for their long support andhelp to China .I would like to extend my best wishes for the success of the conference !Thank you .

Water Resources Development and Utilization in the Pastoral Area of China and Grassland Ecological Protection

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Water Resources Development and Utilization in the Pastoral Area of China and Grassland Ecological Protection

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