Monitoring Ecological Management of Three-North Shelterbelt Program: a Case Study in Zhongyang County, China

Three-North Shelterbelt Program (TNSP) has been implemented in China since 1978 to increase forest coverage, control soil and water loss, and improve environment. Monitoring ecological management could provide the effect of the program and form the information base upon which sound planning decisions were made. The paper monitored forest resources and soil erosion on one example of Zhongyang County, Shanxi Province in three time series using Landsat TM/MSS, GIS and the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). Monitoring forest resources revealed that forest type area changed with the development of the program, forestry land increased significantly, woodland and young afforestation land increased significantly. At the same time soil erosion area decreased in Zhongyang County by 30556ha from the beginning of the program to the present. Soil erosion intensity decreased from more severe degree to moderate degree. TNSP improved ecological environment significantly in forest resources and soil conservation. The lands with decreased soil erosion intensity happened because of planting trees on barren mountains, returning farmlands with the slope gradient of more than 25 degree to forestland, managing forestland after fulfilling TNSP, and returning slope land to terrace after farmland capital construction. The lands with increased soil erosion intensity because of converting broadleaved forest land to open forest land, shrub land to unused land and slope farmland.