China

Drylands Ecological Conservation and Rehabilitation Project

Context: China has one of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world. A large number of its ecosystems are directly threatened by land degradation. The western provinces, inhabited by 350 million to 400 million people, suffer from the highest incidence of land degradation.

Global benefits: Rehabilitation of ecosystems of global significance and reduction of wind erosion, which contributes to massive dust storms originating in western China.

Strategy: Mainstream an integrated ecosystem approach into China’s major land degradation programmes by addressing the main underlying causes of land degradation in selected provinces of China’s western region.

IFAD-GEF synergies: The project has been designed to link IFAD loans for projects in western China with GEF incremental funding. Two poverty reduction programmes supported by IFAD target regions characterized by the highest levels of vulnerability to food insecurity and the lowest scores on other human development indicators.

Interventions funded by the GEF focus on complementary activities that are beyond the scope of IFAD-supported interventions, including support for new protected areas and rehabilitation of arid and semi-arid ecosystems.

Source: IFAD