Progress on the Implementation of China's Agenda 21 in Guizhou Province

Guizhou Province Planning Commission Guizhou Province Science and Technology Commission

After the State Planning Commission (SPC) and the State Science and Technology Commission (SSTC) announced Guizhou province and one of the experiment provinces for the National Ninth-Five-Year(1996-2000) and Long-Term Target for the Year 2010, the people's government of Guizhou province has taken strong historical mission and responsibilities to face the crucial reality. The provincial leading group for China's Agenda 21 and Guizhou Administrative Centre for China's Agenda 21 (GACCA 21) was set up under the leading group to fully implement the various guidance and policies for China's Agenda 21 and promote the sustainable development strategy in the province. The following active achievements have been reached since 1995:

1. "Poverty Alleviation - Action Programme for Implementing China's Agenda 21 in Guizhou Province" has been drafted. By means of carrying out the sustainable development strategy, developing economy and alleviating poverty, population, economy, society resource and environment will be gradually well coordinate. Up to now, with environment protection bureau's active involvement, three environment training courses have been held to promote the leaders' and management personnel's consciousness and abilities. The priority programme plan for China's Agenda 21 in Guizhou has been drawn up so as to seek for extensive cooperation at home and abroad. Among the priority programmes, 36000 tons synthesizing acetic acid engineering from carbonyl, which will replace the current serious polluted mercerizing acetic acid, has entered into the second batch of China's Agenda 21 priority programme; other three programmes (DER series auto-incendiary machine, Guizhou public satellite communication network and 2*12 mw Panjiang gangue power pant) have been adopted in the local Agenda 21 programme and put into operation. At present, the relevant departments are extensively seeking for the cooperation partners.

2. Nineteen functional departments and five prefectures (autonomous prefecture, city) are mobilized and organized to cooperate with implementing Southwest Poverty Alleviation Project (SPAP) with a World Bank loan. Listing on the 1st batch priority programme list of the China's Agenda 21, SPAP is planned to support 13 nationally designated poor counties within 5 prefectures (autonomous prefecture, city) and directly support 830,000 poorest people. The project covers education, health, agriculture, labor mobility, energy construction and technical training, etc., and has become an important component of provincial Seven-Year-Plan for Poverty Alleviation (1994-2000) as well as an important measure for carrying out the provincial anti-poverty campaign. The government leaders at various levels are in charge of the SPAP leading groups, which ensures implementation for the project. The World Bank inspection mission has highly praised for the project's institution building. By the end of 1996, the project has completed 1.58 billion Yuan investment, taking up 14.7% of total investment. Of which, the domestic counterpart fund are 61.73 million Yuan. In 1997, it is planned to invest 3.43 billion Yuan to the project., covering 31.8% of total investment. The project is undertaking smoothly and it will strongly speed up the pace for the provincial poverty alleviation.

3. In 1996, the Food-for-Work programme office under the Guizhou Province Planning Commission (GPPC) invested 5 million Yuan to undertake an anti-poverty demonstration experiment and Pu'an, Luodian, Changshun and Ziyun counties were selected as experimental sites. The experiment is aimed to explore the way and get some beneficial experience for wiping out poverty through migration. In the light of combining poverty alleviation with land improvement, the regional land planning department under GPPC cooperated with poverty-reduction office in Ziyun county and carried out the migration plan for 8,000 households and 35,000 people in Mashan area where exists the dense poorest people in large scale. The experiment will provide the feasible and adaptable plan for anti-regional poverty through alleviation

4. Abiding by the sustainable development strategy of China's Agenda 21 and Action Programme of declaring war against poverty, from the view of depending science and technology to realize social economic and ecological coordinating development, the science and technology department under GPPC has submitted a proposed demonstration project on social economic development and ecological construction in karst region. The proposal has been approved. With better foundation for applied technology extension and located in typical petrified Karst area, Pu'an county has been selected as scientific experimenting base. The feasibility research has passed through the scientific proof and the project has been started and organized by Guizhou Academy of Sciences since April 1997.

5. With approval from the State Council in June 1988, development and poverty alleviation experiment region in Bijie prefecture (including 8 counties) was estab-lished in the light of three themes as "Reducing poverty by development, undertaking ecological construction and controlling population expansion". Within 7 years, the experiment region begins to shake off the vicious circle of "population expansion-poor economy-ecological deterioration" and has got significant achievements. By the end of 1995, the poor people have dropped from 4.12 million to 1.054 million, the natural population growth rate decreased form 21% to 13%, forestry vegetation rate form 8.4% up to 13.7%. Per capita grains from less 200kg to 250kg, soil erosion and water runoff are reduced by 20%. A favorite circle is about informing in the experiment region.

As in the first batch list of China's Agenda 21 priority program, Pingba county has undertaken the intensive sustainable agricultural demonstration program as representative county in Southwest poor Karst area. Following agricultural ecological model, 13 township level demonstration sites have been set up and got achievements. The model has been gradually extended to the province and further study is undertaking.

Taking small valley as development unit, and combing farmland construction with ecological construction, upland terracing has been adopted to practice with annual plan of 33333 hectares. According to May, 1997 statistics, the whole province has completed 262666 hectares upland terracing farmland construction, which will bring suitable improvement for agricultural production in some extend.

6. On Nov. 28, 1995, the Guizhou People's Congress issued "Regulations on environmental protection for water resource in Hongfen Lake and Baihua Lake" to enforce the comprehensive improvement and protect the drinking water resource for Guiyang city by law. Within two years, the People's Congress has made the deadline for improving the serious polluted programme along the lakes. Environment and energy saving program in Guizhou Ferroalloy Factory, sludge utilization program in Guiyang Cement Factory and Guizhou Aluminum Factory (the first phase) have been planned into national social and economic development plan and put into operation. 36,000 tons synthesizing scetic acid engineering from carbonyl has been scheduled in the Ninth-Five-Year Plan and is actively seeking international cooperation.

To sum up, after been adopted as national experiment province, Guizhou province has undertaken a series fundamental work and got significant achievements. Even though, there are still heavy duties and responsibilities ahead and a long way to go.