How technology is helping China’s fight against the encroaching deserts
- China began its anti-desertification efforts in 1978
- Since its launch in 2016, Ant Forest has attracted 500 million users who have helped plant 100 million trees
Sandstorms are a reminder of the power of nature for the residents of Dunhuang, the Chinese oasis town at the edge of the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts, as they have been for their forebears for centuries.
Liu Hongwen, 56, recalled numerous instances when visibility was so bad he could not tell who was standing right next to him. One time many years ago, he thought he was lost on his way from primary school only to discover he was right at the back of his house after the storm had passed. The same sandstorms were recorded in the Book of Han in the Han dynasty around 80BC, which described the relentless “strong wind blowing from the northwest, turning clouds yellow”.
“The best thing to do if you’re caught in a sandstorm is to lie down and wait for it to die down,” said Liu, who now works on the front lines of fighting desertification at the Dunhuang Forestry Technology Popularisation Centre.
In the 1990s, before grazing was halted to protect the grass cover, the wind would blow away livestock. “People would go out into the Gobi after the storm to retrieve their sheep,” said Zhuang Run, former party secretary of nearby Bazichang village.
China’s efforts to combat desertification date back several decades, when the government started tree-planting campaigns to try to act as a green buffer between the arid deserts and northern cities like Beijing. Each spring, winds sweeping across the deserts carry sand and dust to as far as South Korea and western Japan.