Karst rocky desertification occurs after vegetation deteriorates as a resultof intensive land use, which leads to severe water loss and soil erosion andexposes basement rocks, creating a rocky landscape. Karst rocky desertificationis found in humid areas in southwest China, the region mostseriously affected by rocky desertification in the world. In order topromote ecological restoration and help peasants out of poverty, the Chinesegovernment carried out the first phase of a rocky desertification controlproject from 2006 to 2015, which initially contained the expansion of rockydesertification. Currently, the Chinese government is prepared to implementthe second phase of the rocky desertification control project, and thereforeit is essential to summarise the lessons learned over the last 10 years ofthe first phase. In this paper, we analyse the driving social and economicfactors behind rocky desertification, summarise the scientific research onrocky desertification in the region, and finally identify the main problemsfacing rocky desertification control. In addition, we put forward severalpolicy suggestions that take into account the perspective of local peasants,scientific research, and China's economic development and urbanisationprocess. These suggestions include promoting the non-agriculturalization ofhousehold livelihoods, improving ecological compensation, strengthening theevaluation of rocky desertification control and dynamic monitoring, andstrengthening research on key ecological function recovery technologies andsupporting technologies.
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