China took 40 years to put the Maowusu desert into an oasis! The Maowusu desert is located at the border of Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia. It is one of the four big areas of sands of China, with a total area of 42,200 square kilometers.
China took 40 years to put the Maowusu desert into an oasis!
The Maowusu desert is located at the border of Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia.
It is one of the four big areas of sands of China, with a total area of 42,200 square kilometers.
After 40 years of Chinese rivalry,
30% of the desert is covered with vegetation,
and 80% of deserts have been successfully treated.
Thankfully, 50 million acres of land will not be lost.
The annual sediment transport of the Yellow River also decreased by a total of 400 million tons.
After 40 years of Chinese rivalry,
30% of the desert is covered with vegetation,
80% of deserts have been successfully treated.
50 million acres of land will not be lost.
The annual sediment transport of the Yellow River also decreased by a total of 400 million tons.
But the Maowusu desert is not a natural desert.
In the 5th century, during the Wei, Jin, southern and northern dynasties,
it was a lush grassland, where nomadic Huns once lived.
Because of herdsmen unrestrained reclamation and the impact of inter-ethnic war, mankind destroyed the surrounding beauty of nature.
Eventually, during the Tang dynasty, the Maowusu desert became a small sandy area.
And then the sand expands little by little,
the sod was consumed little by little.
At that time, people only knew to run away and go to the next grassland to continue herding sheep.
In Yulin, Shaanxi province, people are born to endure the sand disasters.
Sandstorms that cover the sky and the sun, in turn, hit houses and people.
Such sandstorms will then also spread to Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Nanjing.
This fragile ecosystem has been destroyed by centuries of modern civilization.
It won’t be easy to restore it in decades.
Niu Yuqin planted the first tree with wild sand, and led her neighboring villagers to plant 27 million more!
They turned 7,300 hectares of yellow sand into an oasis!
Yan Yuzhen traded her family’s most valuable sheep for 600 saplings,
Back seedling, zaling forest, pruning.
She invested all her family’s wealth on planting a tree.
In 32 years, 70 thousand acres of sands were planted by her to create a green land!
Shi Guangyin held on for 30 years.
Over 300,000 acres of sand were treated.
He planted 40 million trees and turned the desert into a fertile field!
Countless Chinese citizens create ecological miracles with their hands.
We ought to respect their efforts and dedication to this beautiful cause!
In 1959, China finally made up its mind to control the sand.
In 1979, the “three-north shelterbelt project” began.
It is no use to plant trees alone, you have to fix the sand and bring in water to pull the sand, otherwise, the seedling will not live.
Decades of sand control, in the vast desert sand,
Boring, monotonous, repeated work, the sand heroes carry on with persistence.
Pay for return, perseverance for victory.
Once upon a time, only low shrubs could live.
The roots of the trees can now penetrate deep into this wasteland.
Trees line the city and tall buildings rise.
Photo credit: Xinhua news 2018
Now the Maowusu desert has scientific proportions of sandy farmland.
Cows and sheeps
highways
The director-general of the United Nations organization for the control of desertification has given a very high assessment:
The practice of desert governance in Maowusu has made the world pay tribute to China.
If each generation only wanted natural resources,
Leaving governance to the next generation,
It will eventually make humans unsustainable.
It is everyone’s duty to protect nature.