Political advisers call for grassland protection
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E-mail China Daily, February 1, 2013
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People plant trees to prevent the grassland from suffering desertification in Alxa League, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. [File photo] |
Chen Xiufang, another adviser from the region's westernmost Alxa League, said the environment should not be put on the back burner as the region is developing its economy.
"We need a gold mountain," she said, referring to economic growth. "But we need more of the green land. Environmental protection and the economy have to be balanced."
She urged the government to deal with overexploitation of grassland.
Many farmers from neighboring provinces went to Alxa to dig up expensive herbal medicine, thus worsening the already fragile ecological system. Their number reached 200,000 in the league's Alxa Left Banner alone in 2012, she said.
From the 1950s until the turn of the century, grassland in Inner Mongolia had been decreasing due to desertification.
Since 2000, the region has regained at least 6.7 million hectares of grassland.
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