China has wrapped up a 46-year project, named "green belt" to encircle its largest desert with trees.
As per Reuters, the purpose of this initiative is to combat desertification and reduce the sandstorm that affects parts of the country during the spring season.
A “green belt” spanning approximately 3,000 km (2,000 miles) around the Taklamakan Desert was completed on Thursday in the northwestern Xinjiang region.
The final 100 meters of trees were planted along the desert’s southern edge.
The effort to encircle the desert with trees began in 1978 with the launch of China’s “Three-North Shelterbelt” project, widely known as the Great Green Wall.
Since then, over 30 million hectares (116,000 square miles) of trees have been planted.
Through tree planting in the arid northwest, China’s forest coverage surpassed 25% by the end of last year, compared to about 10% in 1949.
In Xinjiang, forest coverage has increased from 1% to 5% in the past 40 years.
As per the official data from the forestry bureau, although, China has made tree planting efforts, 26.8% of the country’s total land is still considered “desertified.”
Zhu Lidong, a Xinjiang forestry official, told a press briefing in Beijing, that China will keep planting vegetation and trees along the Taklamakan’s edge to prevent further desertification.
