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The partnership helped the six provinces and autonomous

regions formulate individual IEM strategies and action plans.

Until then, individual provincial agencies had followed narrow

strategies, each focusing on a fraction rather than the whole

of the wider problem. The governments have integrated the

strategies into their five-year planning cycles, and pay particular

attention to the sensitivity of the ecological environment, levels

of poverty in affected areas, and the potential environmental,

social and cultural benefits of prospective IEM projects.

The partnership implemented pilot projects to give the PRC’s

central, provincial and local agencies and dryland stakeholders

field experience in the adoption of the IEMapproach. These pilots

provided examples and guidance for a growing number of larger,

more widespread investments in subsequent years. The pilots have

also proven the ecological and development value, cost-effective-

ness and sustainability of the IEM approach on the ground.

Pilots focused on specific challenges in each province or

autonomous region. The sites were representative of prevailing

soil, vegetation, water and other natural resource conditions.

Villagers collectively helped choose the IEM interventions

they felt would best address their challenges. GEF provided

catalyst funding, but provincial and county governments were

co-financiers. Beneficiary households contributed in kind

and cash. Government officials, like the mayor of Huangyuan

County, Qinghai province, said they welcomed the knowledge

and hands-on experience of planning and implementing IEM

pilots, even more than the GEF financing.

Through the piloting of new technologies, the PRC

Government was able to document best practices to be added to

the database of theWorld Overview of Conservation Approaches

and Technologies, (WOCAT).

WOCAT is a global network that

collects, compares, disseminates and uses information on soil

and water conservation technologies and approaches.

In parallel, the pilot experiences have been integrated

into larger-scale sustainable land management investment

projects in Gansu and Shaanxi provinces and in Ningxia Hui

and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions. For example, ADB

is currently supporting the implementation of the Ningxia

Pilot projects: clean energy, conservation and salinity control

The partnership supported significant household-level investments

in alternative and renewable energy systems to reduce dependence

on wood, manure, straw and crop stubble. New heating and cooking

technologies like solar, biogas and electromagnetic stoves and pressure

cookers allowed villagers to make better ecological use of straw for

penned animal fodder, crop stubble for protecting topsoil and seedlings,

and manure for fertilizer. More efficient traditional stoves are being tested.

The Naiman Women’s Federation in Inner Mongolia worked closely with

the local government in promoting conservation agriculture and reducing

tillage. Women in dryland ecosystems have become increasingly responsible

for agriculture while men work away from farms. The women’s federation

reported that by keeping animals off fields and leaving straw and stubble

on the land, farms have reduced wind erosion, protected seedlings and

improved soil quality. Penned animals also increased in weight. The trial area

has been expanded.

In Minhe County, Qinghai province, villagers contributed to the purchase

of 35 new units of agricultural machinery for conservation agriculture and

reduced tillage. They shared maintenance expenses and developed a roster

system for sharing the machines among the 270 beneficiary households.

These farmmachineries and tools greatly reduced labour hours for tractor

ploughing, and even made tractors available to be hired out.

Gansu province adopted institutional and physical measures to combat

soil degradation in eight sites that suffer from severe primary or secondary

salinity. In former wetlands, Gansu province has instituted grazing bans

to restore the natural ecology. To biologically rehabilitate areas severely

affected by salinity due to too much irrigation, the province also pioneered

the use of Chinese wolfberry, also known as Goji berry, which is resistant to

drought and salt and is a highly profitable crop. The partnership provided

wolfberry farmers with field training in pruning and in the use of organic

fertilizer to replace chemical fertilizer, which is known to increase salinity.

Clean energy for cooking: biogas (left) and solar

Images: Frank Radstake

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