Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region plans to divert 510 million cubic meters of floodwater this year to replenish the water supply of the desert poplar forests in the Tarim River Basin.

Last year, Xinjiang replenished this water supply by more than 1.1 billion cubic meters, which was 197 percent of the expected capacity. According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, approximate 181,333 hectares of forest were irrigated via flood diversion activities, and vegetation coverage in the irrigated forest area increased 4.3 percent year on year.

The desert poplar forests along the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, cover more than 666,000 hectares and make up the plant species' largest natural forest area, creating an important ecological barrier in southern Xinjiang.

Though the species is highly tolerant to drought, swathes of desert poplar trees have died since the 1950s due to the overuse of water resources along the Tarim River.

In 2019, Xinjiang launched a restoration project to revive the dying forests and enhance their natural restoration capabilities through flood diversion work.

(Cover image via CFP)