There China recently announced the completion of an impressive project that took well 46 years of work: the creation of a 3,000 km green belt surrounding the Taklamakan Desertone of the most hostile deserts in the world.
This effort, known as the “Great Green Wall”, saw the planting of millions of trees around the vastness of the desert, with the final symbolic step taking place last week, when 100 trees were planted on the southern edge of the desert.
Taklamakan is the second largest shifting sand desert in the world, and poses a constant threat to China’s northern and western provinces, which are subject to dust and sand storms that threaten environmental health and air quality.
We will continue to plant trees
Dust storms are notoriously harmful, eroding soil and increasing the risk of desertification of agricultural land. The “Great Green Wall” was designed to counteract these effectscreating a vegetal barrier capable of containing the advance of the desert and reducing dust storms.
The project, started in 1978 under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, was an ambitious initiative called “Three-North Shelterbelt”. The initial goal was to plant millions of trees over a large area of land, and over the years over 30 million hectares of trees have been planted.
Despite difficulties, such as inadequate species selection and tree deaths due to irrigation problems and pests, the project has achieved notable successes. For example, forest cover in Xinjiang, one of the country’s driest regions, has increased significantly from 1% in 1949 to 5% today.
The completion of this green belt does not mark the end of the project. Chinese officials announced that they will continue to plant treeswith the intention of further strengthening the barrier against desertification and improving the economic conditions of local communities. They are also expected in the future agricultural projectssuch as creating orchards, to boost the local economy and provide livelihood opportunities for people living near the desert.
