Sustainability of eco-environment in semi-arid regions: Lessons from the Chinese Loess Plateau

Abstract The eco-environment of semi-arid regions is extremely sensitive and vulnerable to climate change and human activities. The realization of sustainability of eco-environments has long been a key issue. Consequently, we analysed the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) to identify solutions to the sustainable development of such regions. We first reviewed the eco-environmental changes in the CLP and discussed the impacts of human activities over the past 3000 years, and then summarized previous experiences on the protection and restoration of degraded eco-environments. Our study indicates that the increasing demand for cultivated land has led to the destruction of vegetation and subsequent worsening of soil erosion on the CLP, which in turn, has led to an increase in floods in the Yellow River basin. However, many positive measures, such as slope cropland abandonment and afforestation have been demonstrated to be effective in improving the eco-environment via reducing soil erosion, and decreasing sediment input and flood disasters in the Yellow River in recent decades. Nonetheless, emerging problems such as water shortage, food insecurity, rapid urban development, and over-exploitation of energy resources hinder the sustainable development of the eco-environment in the CLP. Given the historical and present eco-environmental situations of the CLP, we provide suggestions for the sustainable development of both the eco-environment and social economy, which could serve as guidelines for eco-environmental design and government policy-making in semi-arid regions globally.