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Abstract

Based on the review and analysis of the main land-use policy in China, this chapter focuses on major land-use protection policies and programmes implemented by local governments in the Loess Plateau region. The cultivated land, forests and grasslands are three main types of land use in the research area. Four major land-use protection policies have been implemented in the region in recent decades, which include the cultivated land protection policy, Three North Forest Protection Project, Grain for Green Project and Returning Grazing Land to Grassland Project. Based on existing data and information, we discuss the background, development process, main measures and strategies, implementation scope, outcomes and weaknesses of the major land management policies and programmes on the Loess Plateau. Some achievements have been reached after implementing these policies, including ecological, economic and social benefits. In addition, we also identified some major problems in the implementation of the land management policies/programmes (i.e. inflexible subsidy standard, uniform implementation method, resettlement of eco-migrants and illegal grazing) in order to provide a theoretical and scientific basis for a further improvement of land-use protection policies towards a more sustainable use of natural resources.

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Zhen, L., Hu, J. (2017). The Land-Use Protection Policy in China. In: Zhang, L., Schwärzel, K. (eds) Multifunctional Land-Use Systems for Managing the Nexus of Environmental Resources. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54957-6_3

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