China's 78 Billion Trees Reduce Water in 74% of Its Land
Updated
Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 9
China's 78 Billion Trees Reduce Water in 74% of Its Land
1 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 9
Summary
A 2025 study found China’s regreening drive cut water availability in the eastern monsoon belt and the northwestern arid region between 2001 and 2020, despite expanding forest cover.
78 billion added trees boosted evapotranspiration, shifting moisture toward the Tibetan Plateau, where water availability rose while the northwest recorded the biggest losses.
116,000 square miles of new forests—built through the Three-North Shelterbelt and other programs—helped lift China’s forest coverage from 10% in 1949 to about 25% in 2024.
Northern China already holds 46% of the population and more than half of arable land but only 20% of water, leaving the hydrological shift a major planning challenge.
The researchers said future reforestation should account for how land-cover changes redistribute water, not just their benefits for erosion control and desert-storm reduction.