Variation of population, arable land resources and ecological environment in the area of the head part of the Three Gorges Reservoir based on migration investigation

It is a general concern, that how the ecological, environment of the Three Gorges Reservoir area is protected. Based on the statistics of the population, labor resources and arable land resources of Zigui, Xingshan and Badong Counties, and the investigations of migrant households typical of the area of the head part of the Three Gorges Reservoir, effects of the resettlement of migrants on population, labor resources, farmland resources and ecological environment were analyzed. It was found that the total population of the counties and towns involved was reduced and all the affected migrant households were properly resettled, but the labor resources were not much affected ; when the project was completed and began its water storage, farmlands low in elevation were flooded, cutting down the total area of arable lands in that region, thus making the conflict between the land resources and the labor resources more prominent. However, even though both the total and the per-capita area of arable land decreased, the cultivated areas and yield of grain, citrus and vegetables in. Zigui County were steadily increased and so was the agricultural production of the reservoir region ; after the migration was completed, the living environment, housing, living and transport conditions in the region were significantly improved, but the water storage had some adverse effects on the rural ecological environment in the region, for instance, more natural disasters , plant diseases and insect pests. Besides, the rural area still lacks facilities for waste treatment. The local government should pay enough attention to the resolving of eco-environment problems.