I just came across this interesting fact about China: THEY ARE FIGHTING THE DESERT EXPANSION!
Nowadays it is very well know that deserts are expanding and several countries are trying to regain land from it through reforestation and the creation of cultivable fields, as for instance in the UAE (see my post of the 1st December 2016)[https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=632819474877359267#editor/target=post;postID=3753506515330022494;onPublishedMenu=publishedposts;onClosedMenu=publishedposts;postNum=23;src=postname].
Accordingly with recent researches run by The United Nations Convention deserts are expanding on a rate of about 50 thousand square meters per year.
On this purpose, in China things are starting to change. This country in fact has an extremely high population growing rate and they are craving lands to feed its population. The Kubuqi area in particular is interested by one of the largest desert of China and in the recent years they have been implementing resources and technologies with the objective of fighting the desert expansion.
In the last decade, there has been several experiments in order to find the better combination of materials and resources to start this revolution and at least it has been found a secret made from materials found in plants that can transform the sand into soil: this special mixture can retain water, nutrients and air.The first results were very encouraging, in fact the area affected by this experiment was able to generate different type of crops such as tomatoes, sunflowers and corns.
Ultimately, the richness of the soils gave the local population the possibility to feed their families, an income and as consequence improve the quality of their lives.
The Chinese government is aiming to reduce the size of the desert surrounding it with trees and grass and step by step struggling it down. They are the first country in the world succeeding in this project.
Elion, a leading company from the private sector which is investing in this project, is distributing licorice seeds to the farmers and shepherds. Licorice is very much used in the Chinese medicine and one of the quality of this plant is to improve the soil, doing so in few years time the soil will be suitable for the grow of grains and vegetables.
Mr Liu Dongsheng, deputy head of the State Forestry Administration, affirmed to be able to reforest half of the desert areas of the country by 2020 while the other fifty percent will be accomplished by the 2050.
In Kubuqi, Elion is working on different fronts in order to improve the efficiency of the resources and the impact into the environment. In fact they built the largest solar farm in a desert which purpose it to reduce the evaporation and boost the grass areas, never than less these investments are creating jobs for the local people helping them to rise out of poverty. In a short period of time, it has already been noticed an improvement on the amount of rainfalls which enhanced the plantations and the expansion of the green areas which means a reduction of the desert one.
This sustainable way of creating green areas and job opportunities has been praised by several governments bodies such as: UN World Agroforestry Center and UNCCD.
Also this business model can be used by many other countries to achieve similar results.
Most of all it seems the best way to fight deforestation and desert expansion and co-operating with local residents. A win-win situation.
Whit the technologies, knowledge and skills that we have nowadays it is amazing the results we are able to achieve. I am very glad this green revolution is happening in China right now and I believe several countries edging with the deserts will start looking into the opportunity of creating green spaces for their citizens.
Full information can be found in the following links:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095809916311560
https://www.shine.cn/archive/feature/In-Kubuqi-turning-vast-desert-into-a-forest/shdaily.shtml
This short video is synthetic and it gives and idea of what it is about:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C0_iApuIcU
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