Desertification assessment in China: An overview

Desertification, land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid regions, is a global environmental problem. Accurate assessment of the status, change, and trend of desertification will be instrumental in developing global actions to prevent and eradicate the problem. As one of the most seriously affected countries, China has made great efforts to combat desertification. Although improvements have been made in some areas, degradation continues to expand and intensify throughout the entire country. Further land degradation assessments, such as assessments made by the Chinese Committee for Implementing UN Convention to Combat Desertification (CCICCD), will be necessary to ensure successful decision-making, to combat increasing desertification, and to implement Western strategies. This paper overviews the state-of-the-art desertification assessments on both the national and local levels. Also, two major problems facing the assessment of degradation—the uncertainty of baseline assessments and indictor systems and the misuse of remotely sensed data sources—are presented along with suggestions for possible solutions to these problems.