For half a century, millions of workers across northern China’s deserts have carried out a painstaking sand-control method: pushing forearm-length sticks into unstable sand to create rows and crossing lines that form a grid pattern.
Saplings are then planted at the center of each square, creating a landscape-scale barrier against desert winds.
The method, called “straw checkerboards,” is a simple but widely adopted technique designed to stabilize sand dunes, reduce erosion and help vegetation grow with the support of irrigation systems.
The vast network of checkerboard patterns across China’s deserts has become a defining symbol of the country’s decades-long effort to stop desert expansion through the Three-North Protective Forest Program, also known as the Green Great Wall.
The decades of work have delivered measurable environmental improvements, but scientists say maintaining those achievements will require continued investment and long-term management.
For years, drought, excessive grazing and agricultural expansion stripped vegetation from large areas, damaged soil quality and left landscapes exposed to powerful winds and sandstorms. The gradual deterioration of land in this way is known as desertification. According to data released by Chinese state media, desertified areas in northern China reached their highest level in 2000, but have since declined by more than 1,000 square kilometers (400 square miles) annually.
The Chinese government said the initiative, which began in 1978, has helped transform large parts of the country from “the desertification advancing and people retreating” to “greenery advancing and the desertification retreating.” Forests established under the program now cover a combined area of about 500,000 square kilometers (200,000 square miles).
“The broad significance of the Three-North Program is not only the scale of restoration, but the long-term political commitment behind it,” said Barron Joseph Orr, chief scientist for the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification. In a response to The Associated Press, he wrote that reversing desertification is possible when it becomes part of long-term development strategies.
Similar efforts to slow desert expansion have been launched elsewhere, including a 2007 African initiative aimed at planting trees across several countries to create a barrier against the Sahara Desert.
The progress achieved in China has come from the combined efforts of frontline sand-control workers, national planning and significant government funding, according to Zhu Jiaojun, a scientist at the Institute of Applied Ecology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who has spent years studying and supporting the program.
Zhu said increased rainfall in some regions in recent years has also contributed to easier vegetation recovery.
“The achievement of desertification combat is due to people’s hard work and a bit of luck with climate,” he said.
Long-term monitoring by Zhu’s research team shows that China’s desertified land area has declined by about 10% since 2000, while severely and extremely desertified areas have fallen by more than 40%. Forest coverage within the program’s target regions has increased from about 5% in 1978 to 14% in 2022.
During a recent government-organized media visit to part of the Kubuqi Desert, located about 800 kilometers (500 miles) west of Beijing, 60-year-old Yin Yuzhen reflected on her early years as a sand-control worker, describing the experience as “very lonely.”
Yin worked alongside her husband near her hometown in the neighboring Mu Us Desert. She said even seeing another living creature during those early days brought happiness.
“Even the passing of a bird across the sky made me happy,” she said.
She recalled that four decades ago, thick clouds of blowing sand often reduced visibility to only a short distance.
“But now we can see the sun. We can see the green in the distance. We can see the road,” said Yin.
Today, Yin and her husband continue working from morning until noon each day, caring for trees and repairing or replacing straw checkerboards. Their children and occasional local volunteers also assist them.
Zhu estimated that more than 300 million rural workers have taken part in the program over the years, mainly through paid, part-time roles.
Orr said restored dryland ecosystems can become more self-sustaining over time, but they still require careful oversight and long-term monitoring. He noted that success depends on several factors, including water availability and soil conditions.
In Gansu province, the environmental group Green Camel Bell works with farmers and herders to raise awareness about desertification risks, plant trees in dryland areas and support the restoration and protection of vegetation.
“Efforts to combat desertification and restore forests should be linked to local livelihoods, so communities do not see economic development and ecological protection as an either-or choice,” said the group’s founder Zhao Zhong.
Orr also said restoration programs are more likely to succeed when local communities gain economic benefits from conservation efforts.
Zhu said one of the biggest concerns for the future of the Three-North Program is whether conservation progress can continue if human intervention and financial investment are reduced.
“This is what we are very concerned with and this is also the biggest challenge,” he said.
Yin said she hopes younger generations will carry on the environmental work.
“We need to teach young people to love this Earth. If we love it with all our hearts, nature will love us in return,” she said.
