Desertification is a global crisis threatening the livelihoods of 3.2 billion people worldwide. From China’s vast green belt along its largest desert to Central Asia’s unified efforts to halt land degradation on arid plains, the fight against encroaching sand continues. These initiatives offer hopeful examples of human endeavor in restoring degraded lands and safeguarding the future of our planet.
In the heart of southern Xinjiang lies the Taklamakan Desert, a vast expanse known as the “sea of death” for its extreme arid and inhospitable conditions. Covering 330,000 square kilometers – an area almost the size of Finland – it is China’s largest desert and the world’s second-largest shifting desert. Here, dunes stretch endlessly, and sandstorm days comprise one-third of the year.
For generations, the Taklamakan Desert has threatened surrounding villages, farmlands, and transportation routes, squeezing the living space of those who dwell on its edges. Nearly 80% of the desert sands are in constant motion, while seasonal floods from melting snow on the mountains add further instability, leaving homes and livelihoods at risk.
The danger is long-term: at one point, the Taklamakan risked merging with the nearby Kumtag Desert, placing even greater pressure on human settlements.
How To Contain The Sands
Faced with the challenge, China launched an ambitious initiative: building a shield of vegetation to encircle the Taklamakan Desert, planting desert-tolerant species such as desert poplar, red willow, saxaul, and even roses.
This massive project took more than 40 years to complete. By the end of 2023, 2,761 kilometers (about 1,716 miles) of the belt had been established. A year later, the final 285 kilometers – the most challenging section – was closed through the dedicated efforts of 600,000 people.
On November 28, 2024, in Yutian County on the desert’s southern edge, the last seedlings were planted into the sands, completing a 3,046-kilometer green belt. This vast ecological barrier stabilizes the Taklamakan Desert’s edge, prevents sandstorms, and protects the fragile ecology. In addition, the green belt provides wild animals in the desert with safe conditions for survival, breeding, and migration.
A Bold Green Strategy Against Desertification
The Taklamakan Desert control project is a part of China’s Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, or TSFP, the world’s largest afforestation program aimed at curbing desertification.
Launched in 1978, this ambitious program seeks to slow the progress of desertification and reduce the frequency of sandstorms by planting vast stretches of trees and resilient plant species across the arid and semi-arid regions in northern China, where sandstorms pose a constant threat to local farmlands and residents.
Official data shows that forest coverage in areas covered by the TSFP has risen from 5% in 1977 to 13.8% today. More than 60% of regions prone to soil erosion have been effectively controlled, and roughly 30 million hectares of farmland have been safeguarded from desert expansion.
Turning Lands of Despair into Fields of Hope: A Shared Mission
The challenges faced in northern China echo across the globe. From the Sahel in Africa to the Middle East and Central Asia, up to 40% of the planet’s land is degraded, threatening 3.2 billion people – almost half of the global population. The encouraging news is that projects such as the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program seem to demonstrate that humans have the know-how to turn degradation into restoration.
Central Asia faces some of the most pressing challenges. More than 20% of the region’s land is degraded – an area nearly four times the size of Kyrgyzstan. The Aral Sea, once the world’s fourth-largest inland lake, has shrunk by 90% since the 1960s, leaving behind a desert that has worsened soil erosion, dust storms, and agricultural loss.
In response, Central Asian nations are taking effective measures. Uzbekistan is planting native shrubs and trees across 500,000 hectares on the former bed of the Aral Sea to stabilize soil and reduce dust storms. Kazakhstan has committed to planting two billion trees by 2025 across 1.5 million hectares, including the dried-up seabed of the Aral Sea. Regionally, all five Central Asian nations have joined the UN’s Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) program to halt and reverse land loss.
The “sea of death” may never entirely vanish – and it does not have to. Yet the efforts of China and Central Asian countries serve as a hopeful reminder that if roses can bloom on the desert’s edge, then even the land of despair can be transformed into fields of hope.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the publication, its affiliates, or any other organizations mentioned.
