Unbreakable 'green Great Wall' safeguards N China

In June 2023, China proposed to turn the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program (TSFP) into a fully functional and unbreakable "green Great Wall" and ecological security barrier in northern China.

Home to four of China's major deserts and four major sandy areas, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has long been plagued by desertification and land erosion. With the progress of the TSFP, the region has vigorously intensified its afforestation efforts.

"Each worker can lay up to about 0.27 hectares of dried straw grids per day," said Zhang Xudong, director of the forestry and grassland bureau of Aohan Banner, Chifeng City, where afforestation under the TSFP is in full swing every spring and summer.

The banner authorities have mobilized more than 500 workers to plant tree seedlings in an area of nearly 270 hectares over the past month, he said, adding that in another seven or eight years, this sandy area would be transformed into forest and grassland.

Through strenuous efforts, China has expanded its afforestation area by 32 million hectares under the TSFP since the program was first launched in 1978.

Scheduled to be fully completed in 2050, the TSFP aims to rehabilitate and green desert-prone lands and desertified areas in northwest, north and northeast China, hence the name "three-north." By 2050, the afforestation area under the TSFP is projected to encompass over 400 million hectares across 13 provincial-level regions in China, accounting for 42.4 percent of the country's total land area.

Provincial-level authorities are making comprehensive efforts. Inner Mongolia has proposed a comprehensive treatment plan for roughly 1.153 million hectares of sandy land this year. Hebei Province in northern China has set a target of afforesting 400,000 hectares while restoring over 33,000 hectares of degraded grasslands. Meanwhile, Gansu Province in northwest China aims to complete afforestation and grass planting on 630,000 hectares of sandy land this year.

In late May, Wang Feng, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Forestry, visited Horqin Left Wing Rear Banner in Tongliao City, eastern Inner Mongolia, to assist in reviewing the latest afforestation efforts.

On the edge of the Horqin Sandy Land, Wang Feng noticed rows of newly planted pine seedlings standing amid bushes. "Although the wind has been strong in recent days, there is little sand blowing on my face. Despite the exposure of the newly afforested area to sand, it has been strategically populated with grass, shrubs and trees to effectively prevent sand movement," he said.

According to Wang, local afforestation efforts have gained increasing expertise, employing scientific plant distribution methods to pursue sustainable ecological improvement.

Pine tree seedlings are planted in deep pits protected by sand barriers made with straw and covered with a shallow layer of soil. Through this method, the survival rate of the tree seedlings has increased from about 50 percent during the initiation of the Horqin desertification control under TSFP in 2013 to 90 percent today.

The Horqin Sandy Land is primarily situated in the cities of Tongliao and Chifeng. Along the western edge of the sandy land, Chifeng has implemented a strategy to combat desertification by expanding greenery along roads.

In Chifeng's Ongniud Banner, over 400 kilometers of roads have been constructed in the sandy land, accompanied by an expansion of the green shelterbelt along these roads to cover 385,000 hectares.

Dubbed an "ecotourism circle," the road network has become a popular travel route for self-driving tours. Last year, the Ongniud Banner saw 1.6 million tourists and achieved a total tourism revenue of 1.76 billion yuan (about $243 million).

Along with the progress of TSFP, Inner Mongolia is not just seen as a shield for the country's ecological security, but a hotbed for new energy development.

Major Chinese energy companies are keen on investing in the development of agrivoltaics in Inner Mongolia. Agrivoltaics combines new energy power generation with agricultural production, offering benefits to both industries and farmers while contributing to expanding greeneries in ecologically fragile sandy areas.

In Inner Mongolia today, large wind and photovoltaic power facilities dot the landscape. Amid a vast expanse of solar panels, sheep roam and graze on fresh grass, while farmers cultivate drought-resistant plants and medicinal herbs for profits.

To ramp up financial support for the TSFP, China has recently established a special fund to sustain the program. A total of 12 billion yuan (nearly $1.7 billion) has been earmarked from this year's central budget for the program, and subsequent funds will be allocated in accordance with needs in the following years.

Meanwhile, China is also taking steps to extensively carry out international exchanges and cooperation, stay committed to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and actively participate in global desertification control.

(Cover: Saihanba Mechanized Forest Farm, Chengde City, Hebei Province, north China, July 25, 2023. /CFP)