Patterns of China's Lost Harmony blends historical documentation with contemporary assessment to determine the degree of human impact upon the country's vegetation, soils, water, air and wildlife. This book introduces the development of environmental ideas as found in the ancient Chinese classics and traces the history of vegetation degradation. The pattern of land degradation is described with emphasis on soil erosion and desertification. Pollution, which increased dramatically throughout the 1980s, is analysed employing national statistics and local examples; the various policies recently introduced for pollution control are assessed. Wildlife management is scrutinised largely through a discussion of the evolution of China's nature reserve network. Regional variation in degradation and protection is stressed throughout. . Filling an important gap in the literature on China's environment by providing a comprehensive assessment of China's environment as of the early 1990s, this book will serve as an important reference tool, both for understanding the historical scope of environmental degradation and for assessing attempts to control environmental degradation since the 1980s.