Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
pollution—organic and inorganic—show that traditional forms of soil pollution are
combining with new sources from heavy industries.
It is estimated that as of the end of twentieth century, the number of polluted land
under cultivation had reached 20 million hectares, almost covering one-fifth of total
area under cultivation. Of the polluted areas, the amount of polluted land suffering
from the “three wastes” of industry reached 10 million hectares, and the wastewater
irrigation area was more than 1.3 million hectares. Due to solid pollution, 10 million
tons of crops fail every year [
16
].
6.7
Natural Ecosystem Protection During the 11th Five-Year
Plan
During the 11th Five-Year Plan, China made progress in its support for the natural
ecosystem, especially in the ecological function area.
6.7.1 Ecological Function Regionalization
The “Nationwide Ecological Functional Regionalization” proposal, released in
May 2007, included a multi-faceted analysis of the characteristics of Chinese
ecological spaces. It evaluated the country's ecological sensitivity, defined the
ecological function of different areas and proposed a program of nationwide
functional regionalization. According to the program, the nation is to be divided
into 216 environmental functional areas, including 148 areas, or 78 % of the total,
that have ecological regulatory services; 46 areas that provide production and
account for up to 21 % of the whole area; and 22 areas that protect the popular
livelihood and take up 1 % of whole area. Furthermore, according to the “Nation-
wide Ecological Functional Regionalization”, the Department of Conservation has
demarcated as key environmental functional regions 50 areas that are significant to
the protection of national economic security. These provide the quantitative basis
for eco-management and help to provide the technological support for making
major decisions.
The adjustment of the environmental industrial structure and the layout of
scientific evidence are the important measures of strengthening the sources of
development and environmental regulation in law, and these two concepts form
the foundation of the management of regional ecological environment.
6.7.2 Natural Reserve Construction
As of the end of 2010, there were 2,035 national forestry nature reserves, including
forests, wetlands, deserts, and wild flora and fauna reserves. These covered
124 million hectares and accounted for 12.87 % of the land. These natural reserves
play a vital role in maintaining biodiversity by effectively protecting 90 % of our
