China, Africa discuss joint strategies to fight desertification

More than 20 officials from African countries learned about China's anti-desertification experiences via an online webinar co-hosted by China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

The two-day webinar starting Wednesday afternoon serves as a platform where diverse lessons and successful practices in combating desertification can be shared.

During the webinar, strategy on combating desertification will be shared. Technical demands and needs of African nations will be identified for multiple approaches, especially from areas of China with similar landscapes.

Desertification, which negatively affects ecosystems and people's livelihoods, is now one of the most challenging issues facing humanity, especially in Africa.

In Africa, a mass afforestation program named Great Green Wall with the target of an 8,000-kilometer forest area the entire width of Africa, has been promoted by the UNCCD for years.

During the webinar, countries will find and deepen common interests for developing South-South cooperation and the large-scale land restoration needed to prevent and reverse land degradation in the GGW area.

"The webinar is expected to help strengthen partnerships on land restoration and reclamation in both the GGW region and areas in China with similar geographic conditions," said Louise Baker, Managing Director of Global Mechanism for UNCCD.

With almost a quarter of its land suffering from desertification, China has worked hard to combat the trend over the past seven decades through government policies, land greening and desertification control programs.

These measures have successfully halted desertification in China.

Last year alone, China planted 3.6 million hectares of forest, more than double the area of Beijing according to a National Land Greening Communique released recently by the National Afforestation Committee.

In recent decades, greening projects have prevented the expansion of more than 1.4 million hectares of desert land and restored more than 3 million hectares of grassland.

There will be a promising future for anti-desertification cooperation between China and African countries, as both face similar problems and share the same goal, said Liu Dongsheng, vice administrator of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

"Anti-desertification is a necessary choice for achieving sustainable development to all countries. China and African countries enjoy a solid basis in cooperation to combat desertification. Such cooperation is expected to be a model for South-South cooperation," Liu said.

Supported by the UNCCD, China established the International Training Centre on Combating Desertification in 2004.

"The center will serve as a platform, providing the world with Chinese wisdom and our solutions to help the world solve desertification," said Jiang Zehui, head of the center.