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‘All the birds returned’: How China led the way in water and soil conservation

The Loess plateau was the most eroded place on Earth until China took action and reversed decades of damage from grazing and farmingIt was one of China’s most ambitious environmental endeavours ever.The Loess plateau, an area spanning more than 245,000 sq miles (640,000 sq km) across three provinces and parts of four others, supports about 100 million people. By the end of the 20th century, however, this land, once fertile and productive, was considered the most eroded place on Earth, according to a documentary by the ecologist John D Liu. Continue reading...

It was one of China’s most ambitious environmental endeavours ever.The Loess plateau, an area spanning more than 245,000 sq miles (640,000 sq km) across three provinces and parts of four others, supports about 100 million people. By the end of the 20th century, however, this land, once fertile and productive, was considered the most eroded place on Earth, according to a documentary by the ecologist John D Liu.Generations of farmers had cleared and cultivated the land, slowly breaking down the soil and destroying the cover. Every year, the dust from the plain jammed the Yellow River with silt (this is how the river gets its name), sending plumes of loess, a fine wind-blown sediment, across Chinese cities – including to the capital, Beijing.And so in 1999 the Chinese government took drastic emergency action with the launch of Grain to Green, a pilot project backed by World Bank funding, to regreen the plateau and reverse the damage done by overgrazing and overcultivation of the once forested hillsides that would become what the bank described in 2004 as “the largest and most successful water and soil conservancy project in the world” (pdf).Eroded valleys and terracing in Loess plateau, Gansu, before the conservation project began. Photograph: Universal Images Group/GettyThe primary focus was to restore agricultural production and incomes in the plateau, but the dust storms descending on already polluted cities, “making people cough even more”, also became a driver, says Peter Bridgewater, an honorary professor at the Australian National University’s Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies.World Bank participants spent more than three years designing the project, working with experts as well as communities, officials and farmers on how to overturn the longstanding but unsustainable grazing and herding of livestock. Tree-cutting, planting on hillsides and uncurbed sheep and goat grazing were banned. The sustainable practices demonstrated in some small villages were scaled up.The project was extraordinarily ambitious, and was powered through by China’s authoritarian system. “If you want major change, the Chinese system is well adapted to making major change,” says Bridgewater wryly.There were grain and cash subsidies for people converting farmland to grassland, economic forest or protected ecological forest. There were tax subsidies and benefits to offset farming losses, long-term land use contracts and conversion to more sustainable farming including orchards and nuts, and widespread tree-planting employment programmes.By 2016, China had converted more than 11,500 sq miles of rain-fed cropland to forest or grassland – a 25% increase in vegetative cover in a decade, according to a study published in Nature Climate Change. Other studies showed large reductions in erosion and positive changes in plant productivity.“When the environment improved, all the birds returned. The forest has developed its ecological system naturally,” the forestry worker Yan Rufeng told the state-run news channel CGTN.Terraces on the Loess plateau covered with layers of green wheat seedlings and dotted with golden rape flowers in Yuncheng, Shanxi province. Photograph: CFoto/Future Publishing/GettyIt wasn’t straightforward, however. There was some community resistance, particularly to demands to plant trees on farming land. “What about the next generation? They can’t eat trees,” said one man interviewed for Liu’s documentary.In the early years there also appeared to be a correlation between the project and a sudden drop in grain yield. Over the years, officials would debate whether the programme was harming China’s food security, although studies found there to be several factors at play, and that yields later improved.In hindsight, the early methods employed to regreen the dusty hills were also problematic. “There was a lot of mass tree planting – not necessarily natives – and in plantation format, in other words, monocultural stands,” says Bridgewater.Mass-species planting eventually began to replace the monoculture plantations, helping to increase wildlife, but there were also issues with water management, with the burgeoning tree cover and agriculture taking more and more water out of the Yellow River system.“It’s looking like there is a point at which the revegetation will become too successful in that it actually then swings the water balance of the landscape, reducing the potential for water to go into the rivers and be available for human use,” says Bridgewater.skip past newsletter promotionThe planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essentialPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotion“So this is another element that was not really thought about at the start, because the aim wasn’t ‘let’s stabilise the system’. But it’s a good lesson as to how all these interconnecting factors need to be thought about very carefully before you launch into these things.”Eroded terraces on the Loess plateau, Shaanxi province, in 2007. Photograph: China Span Keren Su/Sunset/Rex/ShutterstockA big factor in the success and demands of the programme was and remains the changing climate. The plateau sits in a transition zone between arid and semi-humid climates. The varied natural factors of the region, combined with unsustainable human activity, had contributed to the fragility of the plateau, a 2021 study found. “At the same time, the climate in this region has shown warming and wetting, particularly in the south in which precipitation increased by 20-50 mm from 2000 to 2014.”The climate around the Loess plateau is changing, which means what existed, or even thrived, several decades ago can’t necessarily be put back, says Bridgewater. “But we can produce something, a system that will produce ecosystem services at a better range and a better quality and more regularly than the systems that we’ve destabilised.”An aerival view of Loess plateau terraces after wheat harvest in Yuncheng, Shanxi province, in June. Photograph: NurPhoto/GettyBridgewater adds: “Given the speed of climate change, and not just climate but hydrology and all the other associated global changes, we need to be thinking about what we want. What we want out of our ecosystems are actually services.“We need to think actually in multi-dimensions … to develop a whole new way of thinking as to how we manage the landscape. And in a way, the whole Loess plateau project is a good example of that, [even if] that wasn’t the way of thinking at the start.”Lu FuChin, a former farmer, told the official state news outlet Xinhua that the programme had boosted local employment. “I used to cut trees for firewood, but now I grow them instead,” said the 52-year-old forestry worker. “It used to be that people had to go far for work, but now they can find employment by the Yellow River. As the environment is improving, I believe the villagers’ lives will become more prosperous too.”Additional research by Jason Tzu Kuan Lu

Olympics-Olympians Make Climate Plea to IOC Presidential Candidates

By Nick MulvenneySYDNEY (Reuters) - More than 400 Olympians from nearly 90 countries around the world have joined in a call for the winner of next...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - More than 400 Olympians from nearly 90 countries around the world have joined in a call for the winner of next week's International Olympic Committee presidential election to make climate their top priority.The signatories to an open letter calling for IOC action on climate change range from Australia's most decorated Olympian, swimmer Emma McKeon, to Cyrille Tchatchet II, a weightlifter who represented the refugee team at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021."To the incoming President, we ask that over the coming years and the course of your presidency one issue be above all others: the care of our planet," the letter read."Rising temperatures and extreme weather are already disrupting competition schedules, putting iconic venues at risk and affecting the health of athletes and fans."Extreme heat is raising real concerns about whether Summer Games can be held safely in future years, and Winter Games are becoming harder to organise with reliable snow and ice conditions diminishing annually."Seven candidates are vying to replace Thomas Bach as president in a ballot of IOC members at Costa Navarino, Greece, on March 20.The Olympians called for an early meeting with the successful candidate after the election to discuss environmental concerns, and said the IOC must strengthen existing commitments on the cutting of carbon emissions.They also want the IOC to advocate for "broader environmental action", champion sustainable practices with cities hosting Olympics, and "set a standard" on sponsorship deals with companies which have a poor pollution records.Sailor Hannah Mills was one of the British Olympians who initiated the letter and she said the recent wildfires in Los Angeles, the venue for the 2028 Summer Olympics, had illustrated that climate change was an immediate threat."I'm not sure we've ever seen so many athletes from around the world speak with one voice," said the twice Olympic champion, who is an IOC sustainability ambassador."The terrible LA wildfires couldn't have been clearer: the time is now to set a course for a safe, bright future."The Olympics has held and fulfilled the dreams of so many over its history but I can't have any bigger dream than a future in which my children can thrive."The IOC's existing "reduce, compensate, influence" climate commitment includes a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, compensating more than 100% of the residual emissions and encourages stakeholders and fans to act against climate change.World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe, multiple Olympic swimming champion Kirsty Coventry, who is Zimbabwe's sports minister, and IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch are among the favourites to succeed Bach.International cycling chief David Lappartient, Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan, International Gymnastics Federation head Morinari Watanabe and Johan Eliasch, who heads the International Ski Federation, complete the list of candidates.Prince Feisal said he welcomed the "powerful message from Olympians around the world", while Coe, who has been vocal on the impact of climate change on athletics, said he would be delighted to meet the athlete advocates to "share ideas and initiatives".(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, additional reporting by Iain Axon in London, editing by Peter Rutherford)Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.Photos You Should See - Feb. 2025

"A fighter and a champion": Democratic Rep. Grijalva dies after cancer battle

The former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus shared a lung cancer diagnosis last year

Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., died on Thursday morning at age 77, his office announced. Arizona’s longest-tenured member of Congress was diagnosed with lung cancer last spring, undergoing nearly a year of treatment. During his 22-year stint on Capitol Hill, Grijalva championed environmental protection, public education and reproductive freedom. The Tucson-born representative previously co-chaired the Congressional Progressive Caucus and House Committee on Natural Resources, and sat on the Committee on Education and the Workforce. He was a vocal opponent of attacks on Arizona's immigrant community. Democratic elected officials in Grijalva’s home state reacted to the news on Thursday with shock and sadness. “Congressman Grijalva was not just my colleague, but my friend. As another Latino working in public service, I can say from experience that he served as a role model to many young people across the Grand Canyon State,” Senator Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said in a post to social media. “I am praying for his family during this time of grief, and I hope that that they find comfort knowing his legacy is one that will stand tall for generations.” “I’m devastated to hear of the passing of my colleague Raul Grijalva. He was a fighter for Arizonans and a champion for Indigenous communities and our planet. We will all miss him dearly. My thoughts are with his family, friends, loved ones, and constituents,” Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., said in a statement. Grijalva’s seat will remain vacant for at least six months under Arizona state law until a primary and special election can be held.

Oregon will continue ‘climate action’ despite EPA rollbacks, governor says

Oregon is one of a number of states that regulates greenhouse gas emissions and provides incentives for renewable energy.

Gov. Tina Kotek said on Thursday that her administration will continue to prioritize policies targeting climate-warming pollution, following an announcement by the head of the Environmental Protection Agency that it will repeal dozens of pollution limits and the legal basis for regulating greenhouse gases.“There is no turning back,” Kotek said in a statement. “I guarantee that climate action will continue in Oregon, and that we will continue developing innovative solutions to confront the climate crisis and build a brighter future.”The head of the Environmental Protection Agency announced a series of actions Wednesday to roll back landmark environmental regulations, including rules on pollution from coal-fired power plants, climate change and electric vehicles.EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called it the “most consequential day of deregulation in American history.”Oregon is one of a number of states that regulates greenhouse gas emissions and provides incentives for renewable energy. “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was created to protect human health and the environment,” Kotek said, and the Trump administration’s decision to roll back “landmark environmental regulations will do exactly the opposite.” “Combating climate change requires collaboration and long-term work – not deregulating polluters – to ensure a healthy planet for future generations."State Senate Republicans praised the EPA’s action and fired back at Kotek on Thursday.“While Governor Kotek is focused on political posturing, working Oregonians are struggling to afford the cost of living,” Senate Republican Leader Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, said in a statement. “The Governor’s refusal to acknowledge the economic impact of her climate agenda shows just how out of touch she is with the challenges everyday Oregonians face.”The Associated Press contributed to this report.— Hillary Borrud

Democratic Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona Dies of Complications From Cancer Treatment

Democratic U.S. Rep. Raúl M

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona, who championed environmental protection during his 12 terms in Congress, died Thursday of complications from cancer treatments, his office said.Grijalva, who was 77, had risen to chair the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee and was the top Democrat on the committee until earlier this year. He had been absent from Congress as he underwent cancer treatment in recent months. Grijalva’s office said in a statement, “From permanently protecting the Grand Canyon for future generations to strengthening the Affordable Care Act, his proudest moments in Congress have always been guided by community voices.”Grijalva, the son of a Mexican immigrant, was first elected to the House in 2002. Known as a liberal leader, he led the Congressional Progressive Caucus in 2008 and dedicated much of his career to working on environmental causes on the Natural Resources Committee. He stepped down from that position this year, after announcing that he planned to retire rather than run for reelection in 2026.During his time in Congress, Grijalva championed protections for endangered species and wilderness areas, as well as stronger regulations on the oil and natural gas industries. He played a key role in writing the National Landscape Conservation System Act and the Federal Lands Restoration Act, which were passed and signed by President Barack Obama.Grijalva had announced in April last year that he had been diagnosed with cancer, but would be able to continue his work. He also sought reelection and won easily in the blue-leaning district.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Feb. 2025

Trump’s new attack on the climate, briefly explained

This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here. Welcome to the Logoff: Today I’m focusing on the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle a slew of environmental regulations, a development only relevant to people who breathe air or are […]

A coal-fired power plant in West Virginia. | Visions of America/Joseph Sohm/Universal Images Group via Getty Images<br> This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here. Welcome to the Logoff: Today I’m focusing on the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle a slew of environmental regulations, a development only relevant to people who breathe air or are concerned about humanity’s future. What’s the latest? The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday evening that it was starting the process of unwinding 31 regulations aimed at protecting air quality, water quality, and the climate. This includes rules on pollution (mercury, soot, carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gases) from many sources, including power plants, automobiles, and oil and gas refineries.  What about climate rules? Perhaps the most significant regulation on the chopping block is the EPA’s 2009 conclusion that greenhouse gases threaten public health and must be regulated. It’s the underpinning of the most important climate regulations, including rules aimed at dramatically lowering greenhouse gas emissions from the energy and transportation sectors. Can the administration do this? This is the start of a lengthy process of rewriting federal rules. Environmental groups are also planning to sue, which will tie up these rule changes in court for months or even years, my colleague Umair Irfan explains. Why is the administration doing this? EPA administrator Lee Zeldin framed the changes around “unleashing American energy” (in this case, he’s primarily talking about coal, oil, and natural gas) and “lowering the cost of living.” The EPA’s mandate, the New York Times notes, is to protect the environment and public health. What’s the big picture? These regulations — alongside financial support for clean energy development — are the backbone of federal efforts to address climate change, an undeniably real environmental problem that’s on track to deeply degrade the planet’s capacity to host human life. Federal policy is not the sole driver of our efforts to address climate change, as technological breakthroughs, market forces, and state rules all play a role. But if the EPA is successful in finalizing the rule changes it’s proposing, the administration will have succeeded in severely undercutting the nation’s ability to hit its climate goals. And with that, time to log off: I got a lot of great emails about the Good Robot podcast on artificial intelligence that I shared yesterday, so if you missed it, it’s available here on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and elsewhere. If you’re looking for something a touch more outdoorsy, I had a lot of fun with this National Park Service tool that tells you about the parks nearest you. It’s good inspiration for a future trip — or maybe even a weekend hike. Thanks, as always, for reading.

EPA to steer environmental cops away from energy companies

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicated this week that it will steer its environmental cops away from energy companies.  The EPA can pursue civil or criminal cases against polluters. In 2023, the Biden administration said it would focus its environmental cops on companies who violate laws related to climate change, toxic “forever chemicals” and carcinogenic...

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicated this week that it will steer its environmental cops away from energy companies.  The EPA can pursue civil or criminal cases against polluters. In 2023, the Biden administration said it would focus its environmental cops on companies who violate laws related to climate change, toxic “forever chemicals” and carcinogenic coal waste. In a press release on Wednesday, the Trump EPA said it will revise environmental law enforcement guidelines in a way that does not “shut down energy production.” The Trump administration also said it would reject a Biden-era focus on environmental justice – which seeks to prioritize communities with disproportionately high pollution levels and few resources, including communities of color.  “The Biden-Harris Administration paired burdensome, legally questionable regulations with unpredictable but punitive enforcement aimed at shutting down American energy and manufacturing and promoting so-called ‘environmental justice,’” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement.  “By re-aligning enforcement with the law instead of activist goals, we can help deliver economic prosperity and energy security while ensuring compliance with sound regulations,” he added.  The EPA said in its press release that it would refocus efforts on “the most pressing health and safety issues.” It did not say what those were.  The announcement came in conjunction with additional announcements from the EPA that it wanted to reverse a broad suite of regulations that seek to limit climate change and pollution from power plants and cars. 

Farmers sue Trump administration over halted IRA grants

Farmers and environmental groups are suing the Trump administration over its decision to pause grants that are part of the Democrats’ climate, tax and healthcare law. They are challenging the freezing of grants including those that are part of a $300 million program to help farmers install renewable energy or energy efficiency upgrades. The lawsuit...

Farmers and environmental groups are suing the Trump administration over its decision to pause grants that are part of the Democrats’ climate, tax and healthcare law. They are challenging the freezing of grants including those that are part of a $300 million program to help farmers install renewable energy or energy efficiency upgrades.  The lawsuit says that the farmers have already made purchases and entered into contracts with installers related to the program – money they won’t be able to get back.  Two of the plaintiffs, Butterbee Farm and One Acre Farm, have fully finished solar projects and now will have to pay tens of thousands of dollars that had previously been promised by the government, according to their suit.  “Such a substantial, unexpected financial burden could put Plaintiffs’ farms’ financial futures at risk,” the suit said.  In January, the White House directed federal agencies to pause funds coming from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – legislation that provided billions of dollars in subsidies for climate-friendly projects.  In the wake of the spending freeze, a broad range of programs and projects have been held up, leaving grantees without access to federal dollars. 

USDA Faces Lawsuit and Congressional Action Over Funding Freeze and Cancellations

With a broad pause on grant funding still in place across many USDA programs and grant cancellations beginning to roll out, the agency is now facing a lawsuit and pushback from Congress. Today, the environmental group Earthjustice sued the USDA on behalf of five farms and three nonprofit organizations over the freezing of funds allocated […] The post USDA Faces Lawsuit and Congressional Action Over Funding Freeze and Cancellations appeared first on Civil Eats.

With a broad pause on grant funding still in place across many USDA programs and grant cancellations beginning to roll out, the agency is now facing a lawsuit and pushback from Congress. Today, the environmental group Earthjustice sued the USDA on behalf of five farms and three nonprofit organizations over the freezing of funds allocated through former President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). (A previous lawsuit over frozen IRA funds targeted the Trump administration more broadly.) Researchers at the University of Illinois recently estimated farmers stand to lose $12.5 billion if those funds are not delivered as promised. “The Trump administration’s unlawful actions are hurting communities across the country. This is not government efficiency. It is thoughtless waste that inflicts unwarranted financial pain on small farmers and organizations trying to improve their communities,” Hana Vizcarra, senior attorney at Earthjustice, said in a statement. At the same time, a group of Democrats in the Senate are sending a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins asking her to reinstate the two local food programs USDA canceled earlier this week, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, shared with Civil Eats a legislative amendment he’s prepared that would order the USDA to honor its signed contracts with farmers. The amendment directs the USDA to immediately “unfreeze funding for and implement all contracts entered into by the Secretary prior to the date of enactment of this Act” and to pay past-due amounts on contracts as rapidly as possible. It also prohibits the cancellation of “any signed contract with a farmer or an entity providing assistance to farmers, unless the farmer or entity has failed to comply with the terms and conditions of the contract.” Booker has been vocal in recent Senate hearings about calls and emails he’s been getting from farmers across his home state. “For some of these farmers, they’re saying if they’re not able to move forward with their spring planting, they’re ultimately at risk of losing their farms,” he said. At this moment, there is no clear path for Booker to introduce the amendment. The Senate is currently debating a Republican-backed bill to keep the government funded beyond Friday night; Booker, like most Senate Democrats, is committed to opposing the bill, so won’t introduce the amendment until the current crisis is resolved. (Link to this post.) The post USDA Faces Lawsuit and Congressional Action Over Funding Freeze and Cancellations appeared first on Civil Eats.

A Story About Salmon That Almost Had a Happy Ending

How tribal leaders, commercial fisherman and a few small environmental groups won an uphill campaign against dams.

Completion of the world’s largest dam removal project — which demolished four Klamath River hydroelectric dams on both sides of the California-Oregon border — has been celebrated as a monumental achievement, signaling the emerging political power of Native American tribes and the river-protection movement.True enough. It is fortunate that the project was approved in 2022 and completed last October, before the environmentally hostile Trump administration could interfere, and it is a reminder that committed, persistent campaigning for worthy environmental goals can sometimes overcome even the most formidable obstacles.How tribal leaders, commercial fisherman and a few modestly sized environmental groups won an uphill campaign to dismantle the dams is a serpentine, setback-studded saga worthy of inclusion in a collection of inspirational tales. The number of dams, their collective height (400 feet⁠⁠) and the extent of potential river habitat that has been reopened to salmon (420 miles⁠⁠) are all unprecedented.⁠The event is a crucial turning point, marking an end to efforts to harness the Klamath’s overexploited waterways to generate still more economic productivity, and at last addressing the basin’s many environmental problems by subtracting technology instead of adding it, by respecting nature instead of trying to overcome it. It’s an acknowledgment that dams have lifetimes, like everything else, and that their value in hydropower and irrigated water often ends up being dwarfed by their enormous environmental and social costs.

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