How did China turn deserts into blooming gardens? (2 photos)

How did the Chinese manage to achieve an agronomic miracle? Did they do everything right?





In the north of China, where only 50 years ago there was a desert, now there are blooming gardens. This is the result of the people's struggle against desertification. This is the result of the people's struggle against desertification, which costs the country billions of dollars every year. Gardens planted in desert areas should protect the country from sand drifts.

The desert is coming

The Mu-Us Desert, located in northern China, occupied 42 thousand hectares of the country 50 years ago. Then there were dunes everywhere, and sandstorms caused inconvenience to local farmers.

Neighboring the desert threatens trouble. Sands tend to cover 1,000 square miles of territory per year. Because of this, soils suitable for agriculture become unusable, and people living on these lands are forced to breathe sand.

Green solution

To fight the natural enemy, in 1978 the Chinese authorities decided to build a wall, but this time not from stone and sand. It was decided to plant trees in the deserted north of the country. The long green belt is designed to protect China's fertile lands from deserts and reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. According to the plan, by 2050 green spaces should occupy 15% of the country's territory.

At the same time, in the late 70s, the country passed a law according to which every citizen over the age of 11 had to plant three eucalyptus, poplar and larch trees per year.



In recent years, the authorities have entrusted tree planting to business. Villagers began to be paid for planting trees, and the procurement of seedlings became a profitable business. Thus, greening deserts also solved the problem of poverty in some regions of the country.

Online boarding

It is not necessary to personally participate in planting trees in China. Every resident of the country can finance the planting of a tree online on a special platform. The money collected goes towards complex plantings.

results

The project has not yet been completed in 2021, but the interim results look encouraging. Now China's forests occupy 13.5% of the country's territory, compared to 5% in the 70s. Over the past 50 years, 13 million hectares of trees have been planted in the country. In terms of area, this territory can be compared with Greece.

The trees that were planted in the first decades of the program have already grown. Their roots help the soils retain rainwater, and the once dry, infertile land is covered with greenery.

Criticism

Even a program whose results look like a miracle has its critics. Their attacks are mainly related to the planting of monoculture plants.

Such criticism is not without basis. Chinese forests really consist of identical plants. This is a risky approach, since such forests are more susceptible to extinction due to epidemics. In 2008, the disease destroyed a fifth of the trees planted that year.

Some critics blame dense forests for the smog in major Chinese cities. The country has encountered this problem recently, but it is getting worse every year. There is an assumption that dirty air has stopped being removed from cities due to obstacles in the form of green shields. But experts refute this opinion.