July 12 marks the International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms, with this years style, Sand and Dust Storms: Working Across Agendas for Resilience and Sustainability, highlighting the importance of international cooperation in tackling these significantly extreme environmental challenges.According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), sand and dust storms now impact 151 nations worldwide, affecting the environment, farming, food security, human health, transport, energy systems and economies.In action to this growing crisis, the UN General Assembly declared 2025-2034 the United Nations Decade on Combating Sand and Dust Storms, an initiative released on July 10, 2024.
The Assembly called on the UN secretary-general to organize decade-long efforts at international, local and national levels, supported by voluntary contributions from federal governments, the private sector and other stakeholders.China has actually stepped up its efforts to fight desertification and land deterioration, especially in its northern provinces.Since June 2023, the country has completed over 6.67 million hectares of forestation and land repair as part of a nationwide technique to reinforce eco-friendly security in its arid regions.This spring experienced quick development under the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program (TSFP), among the worlds biggest afforestation initiatives.In the eastern regions, significant advances have actually been made in supporting moving dunes in locations such as Horqin and Hunshandake, where more than 948,000 hectares of sand lands have been stabilized.In the main part of the nation, around the Great Bend of the Yellow River, efforts have focused on controlling both sand and water erosion.
So far, 3.18 million hectares of land have actually been fixed up, contributing to a significant reduction in sediment flowing into the river.Meanwhile, in the west, along the Hexi Corridor and the periphery of the Taklimakan Desert, China has actually enhanced environmental barriers by broadening forests and meadows.
As an outcome, the edge of the Tengger Desert has supposedly pulled away by 25 kilometers.Zhang Shengdong, deputy director of the Department of Ecological Protection at the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, kept in mind that in the past two years, the central government has invested 57.7 billion yuan (about $8 billion) and released 369 major projects, treating an overall of 8.2 million hectares of land.He explained this period as the most intensive stage of investment, achievement and effect in the programs history.
Covering almost 47 percent of Chinas landmass, the TSFP has been tactically divided into 68 core zones, with science-based preparation and coordination throughout departments and provinces directing localized solutions.On a local level, efforts continue to innovate.
In Xilingol, Inner Mongolia, authorities are developing more than 600 km of roadways in rural and pastoral areas.
These roadways work as a grid-like barrier to divide and block the motion of mobile sand dunes.Along the edge of the Taklimakan Desert in Xinjiang, a massive photovoltaic corridor, extending roughly 800 km long and more than 1 km large, is being constructed.
This dual-purpose job intends to prevent desert expansion while promoting the use of renewable energy.Technology is playing an increasingly main role in desertification control.
China now commonly employs unmanned drones for seedling shipment, in addition to sand barrier-laying machines and specialized sand-fixation devices, all of which have significantly enhanced efficiency.According to Lu Qi, director of the Three-North Project Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Forestry, more than 100 major scientific and technological advancements have been executed in the area.
Mechanized afforestation now represents almost 50 percent of desert control operations, while improved tree and yard species are used in over 70 percent of reforested areas.As the world starts the very first year of the UN Decade on Combating Sand and Dust Storms, Chinas accomplishments act as a powerful example of how large-scale, science-driven efforts, backed by innovation and interregional cooperation, can contribute to global strength and ecological sustainability.