The Heihe River Basin of northwestern China is one of several areas severely affected by desertification. This article outlines the status of desertification in this basin. There are mainly 5 types of desertification in the Heihe River Basin, namely soil and water erosion, sandy desertification, soil aridization, soil salinization and vegetation degradation. Among the 5 types of desertification, the main desertification type is sandy desertification with an area of 10 771.97 km2; Second type is soil salinization with an area of 10 591.82 km2; Next to the soil salinization is the type of soil and water erosion with an area of 5 747.68 km2 and the other types of desertification in the Heihe River Basin are soil aridization with just area of 1 369.96 km2 and vegetation degradation type with an area of 1 490.48 km2 respectively. Both natural and man-made factors are responsible for the causes of desertification development, among which the latter is the main driving force for desertification in the basin.
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