China’s Great Green Wall halts desert spread
China’s Three-North Shelterbelt Programme, otherwise known as the Great Green Wall, has significantly slowed the spread of the desert in the past decade. In 1998, China’s desertification zone totalled some 3.62 million sq km (1.4 million square miles), or a little over a quarter of China’s total land mass. Forests planted under the programme now span 500,000 sq km (193,050 square miles), increasing the area’s forest cover from around 5 per cent in 1978 to 14 per cent in 2022. Although the progress is promising, scientists warn the fight against desertification is far from over. They caution that preserving the gains will require decades of continued effort.
