China’s ’Great Green Wall’ tames desert growth, but scientists say fight is not over
China's 'Great Green Wall' project has successfully reduced desertification in northern regions by using innovative 'straw checkerboard' techniques to stabilize sand dunes. While millions of hectares have been reforested since 1978, scientists emphasize that long-term political commitment is essential to maintain these environmental gains.
Why it matters
This initiative represents one of the world's largest ecological restoration projects, offering a case study in large-scale climate adaptation and land management.
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 centre of each small square.
The technique, known as “straw checkerboards”, is a simple yet widely used method to stabilise sand dunes against the wind and help plants take root by using water supplied through an irrigation system.
The widespread lattice it created across the sand has become the iconic image of China’s decades-long campaign against the spreading of desert conditions, known as the Three-North Protective Forest Program or the Green Great Wall.
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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