Recently, a piece of good news has been uplifting——
On the morning of November 28th, in Yutian County, Xinjiang, with the planting of sand fixing seedlings such as Populus euphratica, Haloxylon ammodendron, and Salix matsudana on the last 50 meter wide and 100 meter long sandy land, the 3046 kilometer long green sand blocking protection belt surrounding the edge of the Taklamakan Desert achieved a comprehensive border closure.
The Taklamakan Desert is the largest desert in China and the second largest mobile desert in the world. After years of desertification control, by the end of 2023, China will have built a green sand barrier along the edge of the desert, but the remaining blank areas will be concentrated in the areas with the deepest sandstorm hazards and the most severe conditions in the southern part of the desert. Lu Qi, Chief Scientist of the Chinese Academy of Forestry and President of the Three North Engineering Research Institute, said that the sand barrier will achieve comprehensive closure, not only playing an ecological role and strengthening local ecological barriers, but also providing a reference path for global desertification control.
The comprehensive closure of ecological barriers in China's largest desert is a vivid example of China's active promotion of desertification prevention and control in recent years.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has always attached great importance to the prevention and control of desertification. Desertification is a major ecological problem that affects human survival and development. China is one of the countries with the most severe desertification in the world, with a desertified land area of 2.5737 million square kilometers, accounting for 26.81% of the national land area; The area of desertified land is 1.6878 million square kilometers, accounting for 17.58% of the national land area.
After more than 40 years of unremitting efforts, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, under the guidance of Xi Jinping's ecological civilization ideology, China has actively promoted key ecological projects such as desertification prevention and control and the "Three Norths", achieving remarkable achievements in desertification prevention and control that have attracted worldwide attention.
China has issued opinions on strengthening the comprehensive prevention and control of desertification and promoting the construction of key ecological projects such as the "Three Norths". A legal system for sand prevention and control has been established based on laws such as the Sand Prevention and Control Law, Forest Law, Grassland Law, Wetland Protection Law, Qinghai Tibet Plateau Ecological Protection Law, and Yellow River Protection Law. Thirteen key provinces and regions affected by desertification have issued regulations or implementation measures for sand prevention and control.
Through the organization and implementation of a number of key projects such as the construction of the "three north" shelter forest system, returning farmland to forests and grasslands, the control of sandstorm sources in Beijing and Tianjin, and the closure, protection and restoration of desertified land, the scientific protection of 538 million mu of desertified land has been carried out, and 118 million mu of desertified land has been effectively controlled. The forest coverage in the "three north" project area has increased from 12.41% to 13.84%, 61% of the area of water and soil loss has been effectively controlled, and the "green line" of vegetation coverage in the Yellow River basin has moved 300 kilometers west. In the past decade, the frequency of severe sandstorms in spring in northern regions has significantly decreased.
In June 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a symposium on strengthening the comprehensive prevention and control of desertification and promoting the construction of key ecological projects such as the "Three Norths", emphasizing the need to "strive to create a new miracle in China's desertification prevention and control in the new era" and proposing to "fight a tough battle in the" Three Norths "project".
Various regions and departments have responded to the order and jointly accelerated the construction of the "Three North" project. Huang Caiyi, Director of the Desertification Prevention and Control Department of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said that in 2024, the "Three North" project area will allocate a total of 32 billion yuan in central investment, promote the implementation of 287 key projects, and complete 57 million mu of various construction tasks. The "Three North" project has achieved a good start in the battle, and the ecological situation in the sand area continues to improve.
Persisting in technological desertification control is directly related to the effectiveness of desertification control.
China has strengthened technological innovation and continuously improved its level of sand control through science and technology. Persist in using water to determine greenery, select and promote tree and grass species that are tolerant to drought, barrenness, and sandstorms, and scientifically allocate forest and grass vegetation. Scientifically promote governance models such as Shapotou in Zhongwei, Ningxia, Minqin in Gansu, Dengkou in Inner Mongolia, Kekeya in Xinjiang, and Saihanba in Hebei. Accelerate the mechanization and intelligent development of sand prevention and control, and widely apply sand compaction and fixation machinery, shrub cutting machinery, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) broadcasting, etc.
In recent years, China has adhered to the combination of desertification control and wealth creation, and achieved new results in promoting the economic and social development of sand areas. Various regions are utilizing the unique resources of sandy areas to moderately develop industries such as traditional Chinese medicine, high-quality forage, economic forests and fruits, and desert tourism, in order to support rural revitalization. A number of production bases for forest fruits, melons, woody oil crops, etc. have been formed in the Loess Plateau, Yanshan Mountains, Xinjiang oases and other areas, with an annual output of 48 million tons of dry and fresh fruits, accounting for 25% of the total national output. Forest fruit income in key areas accounts for more than half of farmers' net income.
According to statistics, 53% of the controllable desertified land in China has been effectively controlled, with a net reduction of 65 million mu of desertified land area, showing a good trend of "overall improvement and accelerated improvement". Protecting the ecology and improving people's livelihoods have entered a virtuous cycle, successfully paving a path of desertification prevention and control with Chinese characteristics.
Desertification is a common challenge faced by humanity. China not only accelerates desertification control, but also extensively engages in international cooperation to promote Chinese solutions and wisdom for desertification prevention and control to the world and benefit the world.
Since signing the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in 1994, China has conscientiously fulfilled its responsibilities and obligations under the Convention, formulated national action plans for compliance, and actively participated in global desertification control. The Secretariat of the Convention has twice awarded China the "Outstanding Contribution Award for Desertification Prevention and Control", praising "the world's desertification prevention and control looks to China".
From December 2nd to 13th, the 16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification will be held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The Chinese delegation will also attend the conference and hold the "China Pavilion" exhibition and display activities.
We will deeply participate in negotiations on various issues, actively participate in international rules and global policy-making, further promote the application of Chinese science and technology in global desertification control, and demonstrate China's leading role in the global governance system and support for developing countries, "said Huang Caiyi.