ABSTRACT
China suffers from among the most severe land degradation problems in the world. The rapid increase in desertification since the 1970s and its tremendous impact on China's environment, society, and economy have received considerable attention. Sandy desertification is one major type of land desertification in northern China. Based on our nearly thirty years of research and practical experience focusing on land degradation in northern China, we define "sandy desertification" as land degradation, primarily caused by human actions, resulting in wind erosion in the arid semiarid, and subhumid regions. In China, the sandy desertified lands are located primarily in northern areas, including the provinces of Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Liaoning, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Tibet, and Xinjiang (Map 9.1).
