The solutions to soil degradation and soil pollution

This chapter describes the solutions to soil degradation and soil pollution. Efforts to alleviate soil degradation, as hinted at earlier, focus mainly on reverting the degraded land to non-extractive uses, usually the original vegetation or more sustainable forms of agriculture. In most cases, the degradation is caused by excessive use of the land, so the restoration process involves withdrawing it from farming or herding activities and planting vegetation on the soil. Soil degradation and soil pollution are the outcome of various natural factors and human activities that result from people's inadequate use of land resources and the 'grow first, clean up later' attitude prevalent in China. Although the authorities were a little slow to realize the magnitude of the soil pollution problem in China, there are now hopeful signs that the government is starting to deal with the problem.