A joint research program conducted by Chinese and Belgian scientists has shown that climatic evolution and population growth have had a major influence on land cover in Northwest China.
The Sino-Belgian project -- entitled "The investigation and design of a dynamic monitoring system for land-cover changes by remote sensing" -- was launched in 1999. Belgium provided 15 million Belgian francs (US$340,000) in investment and China gave 7 million yuan (US$848,000).
After three years of research, the experts have confirmed that there has been a series of temperature increases in Northwest China over the last 50 years.
The annual mean temperature during the decade 1986-95 was higher than the annual mean temperature of the 50-year period 1946-95.
The difference is less pronounced for the periods 1966-75 and 1976-85.
These climate changes may be one of the driving forces responsible for vegetation and land-cover changes during that period, the experts said.
Belgium's Flemish Institute for Technological Research and the University of Louvain helped collect statistical information and establish a dynamic monitoring system for land-cover changes to evaluate the environmental impact of new development projects and human interactions with the environment of Northwest China.
Northwest China comprises Shaanxi Province, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Gansu Province, Qinghai Province and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It is rich in subsurface natural resources but is much less developed economically compared to China's coastal regions.
The preservation of the environment is becoming a priority of the Chinese central government, as are further social progress and the economic development of the region.
Investigation and monitoring of land-use change constitute an important decision-making tool for local and central governments in their planning of socioeconomic investment.
Brigitte Decadt -- an official with Belgium's Office for Science, Technical and Culture Affairs, which is a supporter of the project -- said: "We have achieved the goals for the project through the three-year long cooperation.
"Scientists from Belgium and China have developed a multi-temporal database of the biophysical characteristics of the entire region as the basis for a dynamic monitoring system in relation to land-cover changes and environmental issues."
"The information base will be an important reference for China's decision-makers in environmental improvement and the economic development of Northwest China," he added.
(China Daily June 10, 2002)
