On November 28, workers planted the final 100 metres of trees along the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert, completing a 3,046-kilometre “green belt” encircling China’s largest desert, Xinhua reports.
The Taklamakan Desert, covering an area of 337,600 square kilometres – roughly the size of Finland – is the second-largest shifting sand desert in the world, behind the Sahara.
Without human intervention, deserts tend to expand over time unless countered by significant increases in precipitation, noted Ecogov, a media outlet of China’s Ministry of Natural Resources. In 2018, research showed that the Sahara has expanded by 10% over the last century.
China’s initiative to curb desert expansion by planting trees began in 1978 with the Three-North Shelterbelt project, commonly referred to as the “Great Green Wall”. It aims to plant just over 35 million hectares of trees by 2050 to combat desertification.
According to the Global Times, afforestation efforts over the past decade have significantly reduced land desertification, leading to a decline in the frequency and severity of sand and dust storms in northern China.
However, a 2015 study by Chinese scientists found that tree planting contributed less than 3% to changes in vegetation cover observed in the regions with the largest deserts, The Economist reported. Rainfall fluctuations accounted for about one-third, while controls on grazing and agriculture were other major factors.
North-west China has been particularly sensitive to climate change in recent decades, experiencing increased warming and precipitation. This summer, the Taklamakan Desert was hit by floods.
China is not alone in its afforestation efforts. The African Union launched its own Great Green Wall Initiative in 2007, aiming to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land. In June, Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the country has been working with Africa, the Middle East and Mongolia to combat desertification, and that such collaboration has “made more countries greener”.
Read Dialogue Earth’s previous analysis of China and Mongolia’s cooperation in combatting sandstorms.