PARENT SESSION
Symposium 14: Ecological impacts of Asia on global sustainability at multiple scales
Organized by: YD Choi, S Miao, and C Peng
Wednesday, August 10, 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM, Meeting Room 517 B, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal

Sustainable management of grassland ecosystems for controlling Asian dusts and desertification in Asian continents and a suggestion of Eco-Village Movement in China.

Kim, Eun-Shik^*,1, Park, DongKyun², Zhao, Xueyong³, Li, Qingfeng⁴, Han, Yongwei⁵, Hong, Sun-Kee⁶, ¹ Kookmin University, Seoul, Korea² Northeast Asian Forest Forum, Seoul, Korea³ Chinese Academy of Sciences, Naiman, Tongliao, China⁴ Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Huhuahaote City, Inner Mongolia, China⁵ Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, China⁶ Kookmin University, Seoul, Korea

ABSTRACT- Asian Dust, Yellow Sand, or Dust and Sand Storm (DSS) in Asian Continent, became a regional problem, which is being aggravated by time. Being so closely related to an issue of the sustainability in the region, it is needed to identify the problems in terms of causing factors and mechanism for the development. Practically, although enormous efforts are being made for the restoration of ecosystems degraded or being degraded in the source areas of the Asian Dusts, without defining significant questions, we may go astray without gaining the real goals of controlling Asian Dust and desertification. There are several things to make it clear in this endeavor. Firstly, it is urgent to make efforts to combat desertification in China, since desertification in China has been aggravated and it has given negative impacts to the neighboring countries including Korea and Japan. Secondly, desertification is caused not only by natural factors, such as the climate change, strong wind and low precipitation, but also by rapidly increasing human activities, such as overgrazing, misuse of water resources and land use. One cannot guarantee to restore the eco-environment by reforestation and creation of grassland in the region. Thirdly, we should keep in mind that it is necessary to consider socio-economic aspects as well as ecological aspects to combat desertification. In this sense, the project for the construction of a Demonstration Model Village for eco-environmental restoration should be paid for a special attention. While ecology may help and/or contribute significantly to the rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems, socio-economy is the discipline that can direct the activities of the people in the region. The authors deal with this regional issue in terms of sustainable development, which should be further discussed in terms of three Es. The three Es are represented by Ecology, Economy, and Environment, which will provide the perspective for the sound approaches of the issue. As an approach for controlling Asian Dusts and desertification in Asian Continent, the Eco-Village Movement was suggested in China.

Key words: Asian Dusts, desertification, Eco-Village Movement, sustainable management of grassland ecosystem