Effect of Ecological Immigration on Desertification in China——Changes in Two Villages in Ningxia in 20 Years

摘要

Based on international standards, the optimum population-carrying capacity in desert regions is 7 - 20 people per square kilometer. However, in mountainous areas of Southern Ningxia, the average was 125 people per square kilometer 20 years ago. In order to alleviate the population pressure, upgrade farmers' living and production conditions, and improve rural eco-environment, the government of China launched an ecological migration program in Northwest China at the beginning of the 1980s. The program has been focused on resource utilization, economic development and supply of "Food and Clothing" for local people. The action of the program was to encourage immigrate local people in mountain areas, who were experiencing severe desertification and excessive population growth and resettled them in a new region where they could practice irrigation farming. This program is the largest rural population resettlement program in West China since 1949. The government of Ningxia Hui Nationality Autonomous Region implemented the immigration program aimed to reduce the population pressure on the barren land and to improve land production capacity throughout the region in 1983. They introduced an irrigation engineering named "Pumping the Yellow River and Irrigation Engineering" in mountainous areas of Southern Ningxia. At the same time, they operated an extensive tract to the new-cultivated land and transferred some population from poor areas. A number of facts have proven that emigrating from a vulnerable eco-tone is an effective means of protecting ecological environment and alleviating poverty. However, large-scale immigration is a very complicated issue which is involved in the basic transformation of economy, society, religions and agricultural production methods, etc. First of all, the majority of the immigrants are poor rural households who lacked both capital and necessary techniques, and they were used to extensive agricultural production depending on nature. When the immigrants moved to the new settlements under an irrigation system , it becomes a key issue whether they could be accustomed to the new production environment and then settle down.