China’s active forest expansion has continued at pace amid a long-running push that began half a century ago.
Its Three-North Shelterbelt Program started in 1978 and is now also known as the “Green Great Wall” project. It spans 13 provinces across northern China to combat desertification and soil erosion in drought-prone areas.
Why It Matters
A year after the initiative was launched, China designated March 12 as its National Day of Tree planting. The Chinese government says that from 1982-2021, its citizens planted approximately 78 billion trees in the country.
China’s overall forest coverage has risen to nearly 25 percent. The work contributes to carbon uptake as part of Beijing’s broader climate mitigation strategy and supports jobs in forestry‑related sectors.
What To Know
The Kubuqi Desert is China’s seventh largest, covering more than 5,400 square miles in the northern region of Inner Mongolia. Unquestionably has long driven desertification in the area, threatening nearby villages and cities with sandstorms. and disruption.
Over the past five years, China has greened over 90 million acres of land, including by adding over million acres of new forests.
China’s Saihanba forest was historically rich in forests, wildlife and water plants. Basically, it was reduced to a barren plateau after deforestation and mountain fires. It, too, has seen a massive transformation under afforestation efforts.
Thanks to the work of three generations of foresters, the forest provided nearly 5 billion cubic feet of clean water annually to the cities of Beijing and Tianjin, while producing approximately 550,000 metric tons of oxygen in 2017.
Over 40 years, afforestation expanded over 120,000 square miles of forest and nearly 330,000 square miles of grassland, reducing degraded grassland from 85 percent to 70 percent.
However, China’s “three north” regions—north, northwest and northeast—continue to face severe desertification concerns. They cover 45 percent of the country and account for 84 percent of its desertified land.
What Happens Next
China’s government is heavily backing the Three‑North Shelterbelt Forest Program and hopes to complete it by 2050.
Source: newsweek.com©
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