Abstract: Since making the experiments on the program of withdrawing from farming to afforesting in some counties and cities in Xinjiang from 2000 and extensively implementing the program from 2002,some achievements have been obtained.Although the benefits of withdrawing from farming to afforesting are not so obvious yet,it can be affirmed that the implementation of the program will be able to improve the structure of the oasis ecosystems,and their stability will be raised.The implementation of withdrawing from farming to afforesting can play the important roles in conserving water,controlling soil erosion and sand drift disasters,reducing the occurring frequency and intensity of sandstorms and floating dusts,decreasing local land desertification and soil salinization or alkalization,increasing the species and quantities of wild plants and the families and quantities of wild animals,and protecting the rare wild animals and plants as well as their habitats and the biodiversity.The implementation of withdrawing from farming to afforesting in Xinjiang is also advantageous for regulating the economic structure,obviously improving the rural,agricultural and farmers’production conditions,and increasing the farmers’economic income,living standard and quality.In this paper,the principles and the measures for implementing the program of withdrawing from farming to afforesting in Xinjiang are discussed,and the ecological benefits,social effects and economic returns brought about by the program are analyzed.The results show that,after implementing the program,the areas of soil erosion controlled in Xinjiang were9.0×10⁶ hm²,2. 844×10⁷ hm² and1.931×10⁷ hm² in 2000, 2001 and 2002 respectively,the areas of desertified land were reduced for3.0×10⁷ hm²,2.041×10⁷ hm² and 1.059×10⁹ hm²,the vegetation coverage was increased for 0. 0125％, 0.0171％ and 0.2080％,and the forest coverage was increased for 0.0124％, 0.0153％ and 0.2036％ respectively.

Key words: withdrawing from farming to afforesting, ecological benefit, biodiversity, oasis, Xinjiang