China has completed a new phase of a decades-long project to contain its vast deserts, which began 40 years ago.
The Great Green Wall aims to curb desertification, but not everyone is convinced.
Taming and containing deserts have become a priority in parts of the world. One example is the Sahara, which consumes more than 2,895 square miles yearly and is now 10% larger than it was 100 years ago. In 2005, African authorities launched an initiative to create a green belt spanning 4,970 miles long and 9.3 miles wide to contain the desert sands. The effort largely failed.
China has pursued similar projects. The country recently completed a phase of its Great Green Wall project, which has been in progress for 40 years. Spanning 1.9 miles so far, this initiative aims to contain a desert roughly the size of Germany.
Desert invasion. China is home to some of the world’s largest deserts, including the Gobi and the Taklamakan. The Taklamakan Desert, which covers about 130,340 square miles, is 85% sand dunes. These deserts pose significant challenges, such as severe sandstorms that disrupt daily life and agriculture. Desertification also advances steadily, depriving surrounding populations of fertile land for crops.
The Great Green Wall. In 1978, China launched the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, an effort to halt desert expansion by planting tree belts. The program targets both the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts. Neighboring countries, including North Korea, South Korea, and Japan, supported the initiative as they also faced the impacts of sandstorms.
The Chinese government aims to complete the program by 2050. Its goals include increasing the country’s forest cover from 5.1% in 1977 to nearly 15%, controlling sandstorms and soil erosion, and ultimately stopping desertification.
Planting trees relentlessly but conscientiously. According to the South China Morning Post, it took decades to plant the first 1,677 miles of this forest belt. In November 2023, authorities began extending the belt by 177 miles—a section they’ve now completed. An estimated 600,000 workers participated in the effort.
One common pitfall in reforestation is planting without careful planning. Selecting the right species for specific environments is essential. For the Taklamakan region, Chinese authorities have chosen resilient species such as Euphrates poplar, saxaul, and salt cedar.
Results. While these efforts have increased forest cover, progress has been incremental. According to Reuters, the proportion of desertified land in China has dropped slightly, from 27.2% to 26.8%. Officials are hopeful the program will reach its full potential by 2050, ultimately creating a 2,796-mile-long forest belt.
Local media outlet CGTN reported a significant reduction in sandstorm days in some districts—from 150 days annually to 50. Authorities plan to maintain the newly planted forests to ensure their long-term survival, safeguarding farmland and orchards.
Doubts. Despite these achievements, some experts remain skeptical. Jennifer L. Turner, director of the China Environment Forum at the Woodrow Wilson Center, noted last year that “with the Great Green Wall, people are planting lots of trees in big ceremonies to stem desertification, but then later no one really takes care of them, and they die.”
Xian Xue, an expert on wind desertification in China, expressed a similar concern in an interview with National Geographic. “People crowded into the natural sand dunes and the Gobi to plant trees, which have caused a rapid decrease in soil moisture and the groundwater table,” he said, suggesting the solution may exacerbate other environmental problems.
Plans for the desert. Only time will tell whether China’s Great Green Wall can successfully conquer the desert. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has plans to utilize the contained desert areas.
China Three Gorges Renewables Group Co. recently announced an approximately $10 billion investment to build a cluster of power plants. These facilities will generate 8.5 GW of solar power, 4 GW of wind power, and six coal-fired plants producing 660 MW.
Image | Sicheng Liu (Unsplash)
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