AMUR-HEILONG RIVER BASIN
AMUR-HEILONG RIVER BASIN |
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All chapters: Species diversity and use of biological resources |
Land use |
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Trends in Land Use. Recent Developments in Three Countries |
Related maps, pictures, links |
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The China portion of the basin includes the majority of the intensively managed agricultural lands in the Amur-Heilong. In 1995 China accounted for more than 70 percent of all Amur-Heilong River basin agricultural land and about 16 percent of China 's national agricultural land. Remote sensing shows a massive conversion of grasslands, wetlands, and forests to croplands in China 's portion of the Amur-Heilong basin between 1990 and 2000 (Liu et al. 2005). Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia accounted for 70 percent of this cropland increase. All told, at least two million hectares of new cropland were added in the Amur-Heilong basin over that period. Northeast China forest cover declined by 1.26 million ha, and grasslands shrank by two million ha due to conversion to farmland. Another 0.6 million ha of conversion resulted from “water” and “unused land” categories, consisting mostly of wetlands ( Liu et al. 2005 ). The study concluded that both governmental statistics and remote sensing analyses conducted earlier by Chinese agencies show smaller areas of croplands and slower conversion rates. Look at map Cropland change in China in 1990-2000 (Liu et al. 2005)
In the Russian portion of the basin the area managed for agricultural production declined 19 percent from 1990 to 2001, arable land under cultivation declined by 48 percent, and the area under grain cultivation declined by 63 percent. Conversion of wildlands to farmland effectively ceased as did the renovation of drainage systems. (Karakin and Sheingauz .2004). ( Look at Abandoned cropland in Zeya Bureya Plains) In Eastern Mongolia the concentration of services and herders in village centers has resulted in greater areas of overgrazing at these locations. Of the total pastoral land, 12 percent is grazed at low intensity, 67 percent at moderate intensity, 18 percent is heavily overgrazed and three percent of the pastoral land is severely overgrazed. Twelve percent of the total crop land of Mongolia is located in the eastern region. In previous years a maximum of 183,000 hectares of eastern Mongolia were used for cultivating crops. Today only 45 percent of this total is farmed. Moving sands consuming cropland on Song-Nen Plain. Heilongjiang. (Photo by E.Simonov)
| Map collection: Land use and agriculture
Maps: Abandoned cropland in Zeya Bureya Plains Frequency of fires in tiger/leopard habitat in Southern Primorsky Province by WCS Density of cropland in China in 2000 (by Liu 2005) Cropland change in China in 1990-2000 (by Liu 2005) Notheast China irrigation (by F.Lasserre)
Map collections: Forestry
Photo:
GIS: Political geography GIS:Forestry impacts on Korean Pine forests
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Agriculture: Agricultural development in Northeast China Agricultural development in Eastern Mongolia
Russian agricultural land and production in RFE-tables Northeast Asia cooperation in agriculture Environmental impacts of argiculture Land degradation and desertification Conversion of wildlands to farmland
Forestry: Timber harvest in the Russian Far East Major human-induced impacts on forest ecosystems of RFE (table)
Other land-use issues: Nature tourism in the Amur/Heilong River Basin |
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