Watershed and floodplain management along the Tarim River in China's arid Northwest

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In September 2003, a joint conference was held in Korla, focusing on the protection and restoration of endangered fluvial ecosystems in Central Asia, specifically the Tarim River in Southern Xinjiang. Organized by environmental scientists from the Technical University of Berlin and Greifswald University, alongside colleagues from Xinjiang University and local governmental bodies, this meeting stemmed from concerns about environmental degradation in southern Xinjiang dating back to the early 1980s. By the 1990s, ecological restoration began to gain traction in China, influenced by global discussions on sustainable development. The World Bank funded a project from 1991 to 1997 aimed at poverty alleviation through improved oasis agriculture in the Tarim River's upper and middle reaches, which included an ecosystem restoration component to recover natural forests and combat desert expansion. The subsequent Tarim Basin II Project (1998–2004), backed by a $150 million loan, sought to establish sustainable water and land management mechanisms. This initiative led the Chinese government to prioritize the ecological restoration of the Tarim River's lower reaches in its 10th Five-Year Plan (2000–2005). Premier Zhu Rongji's visit to the area in 2000 underscored the central government's commitment to addressing ecological restoration in the region.