ADB to Help China Fighting Desertification in Western ProvinceThe Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to provide a 610,000-U.S. dollars technical assistance to combat desertification in China's western region, particularly Gansu Province, an ADB news release said here Wednesday.The assistance will help the Gansu provincial government develop an integrated approach to control and prevent further desertification and enhance oasis ecosystems in the Hexi Corridor near the Yellow River. Desertification is a significant cause of environmental deterioration in the western China. It erodes stabilizing vegetation cover and nutrients, and destroys the soil's structure and moisture-holding capacity, the news release said. The assistance to be financed by ADB's Japan Special Fund, will include surveys of river basins containing oases under threat of desertification. The project will examine the impact of development policies and approaches to natural resources management, and will consult stakeholders, including affected communities, to derive policy recommendations. The assistance will include proposals to increase community participation in resource management and to formulate ways of providing basic services and income for people whose livelihoods may be affected by changes in land-use policies. The total cost of the technical assistance is 765,000 U.S. dollars. The Gansu provincial government will fund the balance. The project is scheduled for completion by February 2002. |
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