Abstract: This paper focuses the land-use and land-cover of arid valley in upper Minjiang watershed. Four limitation lines related to land cover were identified. The orchards are always below the elevation of 2000 m.The limitation altitude of cultivated-land is about 2800 m. Forest line and grass line is about 3800 m and 4800 m in order. Forestland, grassland, farmland and arable land are the main types of land use/cover. From 1949 to 1998, the area of farmland has doubled. The increase of population is an important reason for the increase of farmland area. The total population has also doubled during the same period. Besides, the improvement of life standard has enhanced the demands of new farmland. As for the forestland, although the total area remains 54%, the woodland and the timber storage have decreased radically. The changes of the forestland and the farmland are the main source of negative impacts on the ecosystem of the watershed and the arid valley area. This paper has given some proposals about land-use adjustment and reforestation.

Key words: upper reaches of Minjiang River, semi-arid valley, land use/land cover