From Desert to Oasis: Shapotou’s Amazing Transformation
Imagine living next to a giant desert that’s slowly creeping towards your home! 🌵 That’s what the people of Shapotou in northwest China’s Zhongwei City faced. The mighty Tengger Desert was threatening to swallow their farms and homes.
But the people of Shapotou didn’t give up. They came up with clever ideas to stop the desert in its tracks! 😮 They used something called a “straw checkerboard barrier.” Sounds fancy, right? It’s actually a simple but smart method where they placed straw in a crisscross pattern on the sand. This helped to keep the sand from blowing away and allowed plants to grow! 🌱
They also used sand-fixing systems, which are special ways to hold the sand in place so it doesn’t move. Over many years, their hard work paid off. They turned the sandy desert into green land full of plants and trees! 🌳
Here’s what they achieved:
- They reclaimed about 100,000 hectares of desert land. That’s like turning an area larger than some small countries from sand to green! 🗺️
- The amount of plants covering the land went from less than 1% to an amazing 42%! 🌿
- They pushed back the desert by 25 kilometers. That’s like moving a giant sandy monster far away from their homes! 🏜️➡️🏠
The story of Shapotou shows how people can work together to solve big problems. It’s an inspiring example of how we can protect our environment and make the world a greener place! 💚
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
