ABSTRACT
The Chinese government recognizes soil erosion as a major problem on the Chinese Loess Plateau and intends to combat the problem by land use change. The EROCHINA project aimed to define alternative land uses for the Danangou catchment, using monitoring and modelling of erosion, combined with scenario development and participatory planning. Agriculture is currently the main land use in the catchment and is also practised on steep slopes. However, it has severe environmental consequences, in particular extensive soil erosion. Measurements of soil loss showed that large amounts of soil are lost during storms. Simulations with the Limburg soil erosion model indicated that significant decreases in soil and water loss could be achieved by changes in land use. Simple conservation measures were predicted to be less effective but could nevertheless result in some reduction of runoff and erosion. The local people are highly aware of alternative conservation land uses suitable for different parts of the catchment. However, due to the poor living standard and the lack of off-farm employment, any effort to improve land use toward more 320sustainable practices would be difficult without support from the government. It is recommended that implementation of such conservation measures be carried out by active collaboration between farmers, extension workers, and researchers. Measurement and modelling of erosion can give valuable data to be used in such collaboration.
