Overexploitation has left the lower reaches of the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, dry for nearly 30 years, pushing the desert poplar forests to the brink of extinction.

But in 2000, China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region launched an ecological water diversion project, channeling abundant upstream water during annual flood seasons to revive the parched lower basin.

Data from the project shows that the periodic release of water has alleviated ecological degradation in the target area. The groundwater level has risen, and the number and variety of animals and plants in the area have greatly increased.