It is estimated that China has lost one-fifth of its agricultural land

since 1957 due to economic development and soil erosion. Since

1973, China has taken significant steps to rectify some of the
environmental damage caused by rampant use of wood for fuel,
uncontrolled industrial pollution, and extensive conversion of
forests, pastures, and grasslands to grain production during the
Cultural Revolution. Reforestation, including construction of shelter
belts, has emphasized restoration of the erosionprone loesslands in
the middle reaches of the Yellow River. In 1979, the Standing
Committee of the Fifth National People's Congress adopted an
Environmental Protection Law and a Forestry Law. In 1989, China
began a nationwide program called the Great Green Wall of China
which began to accelerate the rate of reforestation. In 2000, about
17.5% of the total land area was forested.

Water supplies are limitedper capita consumption in China's cities

is about 34 gallons a day, less than half that in many developing
countriesand conservation, reclamation, and redistribution of
water constitute major national priorities. Safe drinking water is
unavailable to much of the population (as much as one-third,
according to some estimates). By 1989, 436 of 532 rivers were
polluted. In 1994, the World Health Organization reported that
Chinese cities pollute water supplies more than those of any other
country in the world. Legislation provides for the protection of
aquatic resources, including water quality standards for farmland
irrigation and fisheries.

To alleviate water shortages in the heavily populated Beijing-Tranjin

region, a massive water transfer project began in 1994 by
construction of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River. The
project aroused considerable controversy. Project managers faced
technological problems and higher-than-expected costs. Completion
of the project (scheduled for 2009) will create a reservoir that will
flood prime farm land and leave the ecology of the river area
damaged. By early 2005, one million people had already been
displaced by construction. An additional 900,000 people were
expected to be displaced by completion of the project.

The use of high-sulfur coal as a main energy source causes air

pollution and contributes to acid rain. In the mid-1990s, China had
the world's second-highest level of industrial carbon dioxide
emissions, totaling 2.67 billion metric tons per year, a per capita
level of 2.27 metric tons per year. In 2000, the total increased to 2.7
billion metric tons. Investment in pollution-reducing technology is
required of all industrial enterprises. Penalties are imposed for
noncompliance and incentives, in the form of tax reductions and
higher allowable profits, are available for those enterprises that
meet environmental standards. Beijing has implemented programs
for controlling discharges of effluents, smoke and soot emissions,
and noise pollution. Special success has been claimed for the
recovery of oil from effluents of the Daqing oil field in Heilongjiang,
refineries, and other oil-processing establishments; use of
electrostatic precipitators and bag collectors by the cement and
building industries; recovery of caustic soda and waste pulp from
effl uents of the pulp and paper industries; introduction of
nonpolluting processes into the tanning and depilating of hides; use
of nonmercuric batteries; recovery of fine ash from coal-burning
power plants for use in the manufacture of bricks, tiles, cement, and
road-surfacing materials; and development of new methodologies
for recycling coal wastes and marine oil discharges.

To protect the nation's botanical and zoological resources, a

program was adopted in 1980 to establish 300 new reserves, with a
total area of 9.6 million ha (23.7 million acres). That goal was
achieved by the end of 1985, one year ahead of schedule. In 2003,
about 7.8% of the total land area of China was protected. The
largest reserve, covering 800,000 ha (1,980,000 acres), is the
Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve, in the northeast. Others
include the Wolong reserve in Sichuan Province, covering 200,000
ha (494,000 acres) and famous for its research on the giant panda;
the Dinghu Mountain reserve in Guangdong Province, where a
subtropical evergreen broadleaf monsoon forest that has remained
virtually untouched for four centuries provides opportunities for
ecological studies; and the Nangun River area in Yunnan Province,
where the principal focus of protection is the tropical rain forest.
There are 30 Ramsar wetland sites and eight natural and mixed
properties designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

According to a 2006 report issued by the International Union for

Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), threatened
species included 80 types of mammals, 82 species of birds, 31
types of reptiles, 86 species of amphibians, 47 species of fish, 1
type of mollusk, 3 other invertebrates, and 443 species of plants.
Endangered species in China include Elliot's pheasant, Cabot's
tragopan, yarkand deer, Shansi sika deer, South China sika, North
China sika, the Chinese alligator, the Amur leopard, Javan
rhinoceros, Thailand brow-antlered deer, the white-lipped deer,
Bactrian camel, the giant panda, and the Siberian white crane.
There are about nine extinct species, including the Yunnan box
turtle and the wild horse.