Last Sunday business leaders from around China attended an environmental forum held in Mile to discuss the increasing risk of desertification in Xishuangbanna, Wenshan, and the Three Parallel Rivers Protected Areas, according to a Kunming Information Hub report.

The conference was held by the Society Entrepreneur Ecology (SEE), which was established by businessman Liu Xiaoguang (刘晓光). Originally formed in 2004 to combat desertification and sandstorms in Inner Mongolia's Alashan region, SEE has now broadened its scope to include environmental concerns in Yunnan.

The forum included a lecture by Xiao Jin (蕭今), a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Jin explained the links between the province's porous Karst topography, upland forests and water supplies.

110,000 square kilometers of Yunnan is Karst, comprising 28 percent of its land area. Karst topography drains very quickly and even in seasons with heavy rainfall, can be characterized by a lack of surface water. This quality can make irrigating cropland difficult and leads to higher water usage.

One solution put forth by Xiao was to stop desertification by preventing deforestation. She suggested that if the incomes of farmers living in heavily-wooded areas could be raised, they would stop clearing forest for new fields. Xiao said farmers should be encouraged to maintain and manage forests adjacent to their land.

Deforestation is linked to desertification through a complex