Biosphere degradation in the People's Republic of China

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China moves to curb deforestation
Reuters, [19 August 1998]. The State Council issued an emergency circular calling for greater protection of forest resources and forbidding the opening up of new lands at the expense of forests. China's forest resources are rapidly dwindling due to over-exploitation of land resources in some forest regions.
China blames floods on deforestation
BBC News, 22 August 1998. The authorities in China have admitted for the first time that excessive exploitation of natural resources could be behind this year's devastating floods. Serious soil erosion caused by tree felling and other activities had silted up areas which usually acted as overflows for excessive rain.
Beijing kicks off mission to wipe out cockroaches
By Mary Kwang, The Straits Times, 22 November 2000. Roaches and mosquitoes have taken over from sparrows and bedbugs as top pests and the ‘foreign influx’ bringing German and American breeds is being blamed. Cockroaches have thrived in the wake of the country's economic reforms.
Facai kicks up a storm
By Mary Kwang, The Straits Times, 29 July 2000. Attribution of sandstorms to environmental damage in the west, notably land laid barren in vast stretches of Inner Mongolia. One cause of this damage is the wanton gathering of facai, prized as a delicacy in southern China and Hongkong.
China's Chopsticks Crusade Feeds Environmental Movement
By Philip P. Pan, The Washington Post, 6 February 2001. Disposable wooden chopsticks that snap apart are a menace, a symbol of all that is wrong with the way China treats the environment. Disposable chopsticks have become the utensils that Chinese environmentalists love to hate and is the focus of a campaign of students and informal groups on Internet.