Ten-year-period Demonstration Project in Hunshandake Sandland and Prospect for the Future Development of Eco-stock Farming Industry
JIANG Gaoming1, LIU Meizhen1, NIU Shuli1, LI Yonggeng1, PENG Yu2, LI Gang3, SU Benying4
1. State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing;100093, China;2. College of Life and Environmental Science, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, China;3. College of Life Sciences, Northwest of A&F University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi Province, China;4. State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an 271018, Shandong Province, China
Abstract：In order to realize the national goal of "combating dust storm and desertification in northern Beijing-Tianjin region", since 2000, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has initiated a huge demonstration project in Hunshandake Sandland and Northern Beijing agriculture-pasture trans-zones. After 10 years' experiment in Hunshandake Sandland, great achievements are realized both ecologically and economically. Bayinhushu, the village where the demonstration project was conducted, has 72 household, 288 persons, and a sandland area of 8400hm2. The main landscapes include shifting sand dunes, semi-shifting sand dunes, fixed sand dunes, meadows, and wetlands. The serious land degradation has been controlled, plentiful sandland vegetation is recovered, and dust storms are ceased in the demonstration area. The local herdsmen have ended the history of buying forages during winter and early spring from the market, nowadays, they are able to sell the superfluous forages to the market. Herdsmen of Bayinhushu now have their own driveways, new houses, tap-waters, and bathrooms; the living standard is significantly improved. The largest demonstration base for "replacing livestock with poultry" in China's grassland has established. The successful restoration story of Bayinhushu, especially as the case of desertification prevention and biodiversity conservation, has been intensively reported by academic journals and/or media both nationwide and internationwide. The prestigious Science magazine once reported the project achievement as a great ecological event in its special column of News Focus. The US college textbook, Geology and the Environment (6e), also refers Hunshandake story as the successful case of dust storm controlling. The main approaches, achievements, and challenges involving the demonstration project after 10 years' operation are concisely reviewed. Suggestions that are based on the actual practices and go far toward the sustainable development of eco-stock farming industry in a large region of grassland, especially in the four main sandlands in China have been put forward.
2011, Vol. 29 
