China's 'Green Great Wall' tames desert growth, but scientists warn the fight is not over

[OKIsItJustMe]

https://apnews.com/article/china-desert-sandstorm-desertification-straw-checkerboard-2114ca22f87c31cffcf5e3c48c070aa1

Updated 11:38 PM EDT, July 12, 2026

KUBUQI DESERT, China (AP) — For half a century, millions of workers have repeated a task across the deserts in northern China: inserting forearm-length sticks into shifting sand, first in a row, then in an intersecting line, gradually forming a grid. Then saplings are planted at the center of each small square.

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The generations of work have yielded measurable progress, but scientists caution that preserving the gains will require decades of continued effort.

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The progress is the result of the efforts of frontline sand-control workers, along with top-level planning and substantial state investment, said Zhu Jiaojun, a scientist at the Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, who has long been dedicated to the construction and management of the program. He added that increased rainfall in recent years in some areas has made vegetation restoration easier.

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According to long-term monitoring data by Zhu’s team, China’s desertified land has shrunk by around 10% overall since 2000, and areas of severely or extremely desertified land have decreased by more than 40%. Forest cover in the program area has risen from around 5% in 1978 to 14% in 2022.

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In recent years, the “Great Green Wall” has seen the addition of solar farms, and some have credited them with the greening of the desert, but the effort behind the “Great Green Wall” is much older.