3,517 views Dec 20, 2024
Discover how China transformed its largest desert into a thriving, lush forest. Learn about the innovative techniques used to combat desertification and create a sustainable ecosystem.
Transcript
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what if I told you that China is turning
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its largest desert into a forest not
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just any Forest but the largest
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artificial forest in human history in
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the 1970s China faced a massive
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environmental crisis deserts were
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expanding at an alarming rate swallowing
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up usable land and threatening
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communities sandstorms would regularly
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blast through cities turning Skies
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orange and making life unbearable for
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Millions the situation was so dire that
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some areas were losing thousands of
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hectares of productive land every year
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imagine waking up one morning to find
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your city buried in sand it was not just
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a Dusty day but waves of sand hundreds
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of feet high swallowing entire
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neighborhoods this wasn't a scene from a
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science fiction movie it was reality for
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millions in China where one of Earth's
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largest deserts the GOI was literally
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consuming cities farms and Villages the
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Chinese government recognized the need
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for a bold solution something
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unprecedented their answer was the three
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North shelter Forest program now
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globally known as the great green wall
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take a look at this image these green
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patches spreading across northern China
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weren't here 40 years ago let me put
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this project into perspective imagine
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taking an area larger than all of
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Western Europe and deciding to transform
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it into a lush green forest that's
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exactly what China is doing but first
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let's understand why China needs this
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massive project right now onethird of
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China's Farmland is disappearing not
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from Urban Development or industrial
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expansion but from an enemy that's been
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growing for decades the desert this
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crisis didn't happen overnight back in
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the 1950s China's rapid
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industrialization led to massive
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deforestation trees that had held the
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soil in place for centuries were cut
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down without this natural barrier the
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desert began its Relentless March
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forward the GOI desert was swallowing up
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3,600 Square km of grassland every
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single year imagine watching your
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Farmland your home your entire Community
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slowly disappear under waves of sand
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cities would vanish under dust storms
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and Farmers could only watch as their
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fields turned to Wasteland in Beijing
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residents once faced over 50 dust storms
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every year these weren't just minor
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inconveniences we're talking about
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storms so powerful they shut down cities
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grounded flights and forced Millions
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indoors the numbers tell a devastating
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story here these storms caused
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respiratory diseases to spike by
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300% crop yields plummeted by 40% and
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the economic losses well a staggering
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$54 billion annually but in 1978 China
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decided to fight back they launched what
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would become the largest ecological
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engineering project in history the goal
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was to create a 4,500 100 km Forest
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barrier literally a wall of trees to
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stop the desert in its tracks think
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about that distance for a moment
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4,500 km that's longer than the entire
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us Mexico border and they're not just
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planting a single line of trees this is
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a forest system that in some places
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stretches 100 km wide the scale of this
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project is mindboggling let me put this
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Project's scale into perspective the
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planned Forest Area covers four
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.69 million square kilm that's larger
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than all of Western Europe combined the
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cost of this green initiative is $
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56.2 billion and the timeline extends
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over 72 years from 1978 to 2050 as of
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2024 however they have already completed
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3,000 km of this green barrier and with
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today's technology it appears that the
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project will be finished earlier than
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anticipated since 1978 China has planted
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over 100 billion trees across an area
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larger than all of California now you
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might be thinking planting trees in a
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desert how is that even possible and
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more importantly is it actually working
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well that's exactly what we're going to
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explore the way China is building this
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green wall isn't just about digging
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holes and dropping seeds they're using
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science in ways that nobody has tried
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before the project splits northern China
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into three distinct zones each one f
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faces its own challenges in the
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Northwest they're dealing with less than
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200 mm of rain per year that's about the
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same as the Sahara Desert to beat these
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impossible conditions Chinese scientists
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created something they call the fish
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scale pit picture a series of
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crescent-shaped dips in the ground each
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one designed to catch and hold every
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precious drop of rain this simple but
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brilliant Innovation increased tree
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survival rates from 20% to an impressive
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80% but the real gamechanging work is
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happening in Laboratories across China
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scientists have developed 85 new types
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of trees specifically for this project
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take the new version of the Siberian elm
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they've created its roots can reach down
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80 M that's as deep as a 26-story
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building and it can survive on just 100
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mm of annual rainfall now let's talk
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about what all this work has achieved so
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far the results of these Innovations
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have been remarkable since 1978 China
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has planted 100 billion trees think
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about that number for a moment 100
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billion that's enough trees to circle
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the Earth 60 times if you place them
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side by side but numbers only tell part
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of the story let's look at what this
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massive tree planting campaign has
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actually achieved Forest coverage in
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northern China has jumped from 5% to
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13.5% in just four decades China alone
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created 25% of all new Green Space on
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Earth between 2000 and
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2017 remember those dust storms I
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mentioned earlier their frequency has
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dropped by 81% Beijing now sees blue
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skies more often than yellow ones but
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this project isn't just changing the
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environment it's transforming lives
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areas that were once bar in wastelands
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are now producing fruits nuts and Timber
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new forest related Industries have
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created millions of jobs former desert
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regions are becoming tourist
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destinations however not everything
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about this massive project is positive
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in fact some scientists are raising
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serious concerns if you are enjoying
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this video so far be sure to give it a
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big thumbs up while China's great green
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wall shows promise it faces serious
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challenges the biggest concern isn't the
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trees or the sand it's water when you're
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planting forests in areas that get as
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little rain as the Sahara every drop
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counts scientists worry that these new
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forests might actually disrupt natural
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water cycles some areas are already
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seeing their groundwater levels drop as
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trees consume more water than the land
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can naturally provide there's another
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issue that might not be obvious at first
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glance many of these forests are
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monocultures huge areas planted with
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just one type of tree while this might
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seem efficient it creates vulnerable
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ecosystems a single disease or pest
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could potentially wipe out entire
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sections of the forest barrier imagine a
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city where everyone has exist exactly
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the same immune system one disease could
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Wipe Out the entire population that's
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the risk these monoculture forests face
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in some regions the desert is still
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expanding faster than trees can be
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planted it's like trying to fill a
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bucket with a hole in it local officials
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report that in certain areas they're
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replanting the same sections multiple
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times as sand dunes overtake their
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previous efforts but China is not
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backing down from these challenges
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instead they're adapting their approach
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and some of their Solutions are truly
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Innovative scientists are now developing
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new drought resistant tree varieties
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specifically for this project they're
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also experimenting with advanced
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irrigation techniques that use up to 70%
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less water the strategy is evolving too
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instead of relying solely on trees
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they're now creating diverse ecosystems
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with shrubs grasses and multiple tree
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species this approach not only requires
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less water but creates more resilient
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forests looking ahead China plans to
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secure 2 million more hectares of
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desertified land by 2025 they're also
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investing in new sand control
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technologies that could revolutionize
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desert management globally so is China's
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great green wall a success or a failure
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the answer isn't simple what we're
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seeing is both a Triumph of human
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determination and a lesson in ecological
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complexity yes the project has
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successfully pushed back against
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desertification in many areas but it's
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it's also teaching us valuable lessons
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about the delicate balance of ecosystems
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the world is watching this experiment
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closely from Africa to Central Asia
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countries are studying China's great
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green wall nearly 1,000 Specialists from
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87 different countries have trained in
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China's desert control methods the
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Project's influence stretches far beyond
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China's borders these new forests are
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capturing millions of tons of carbon
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dioxide annually making them a powerful
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weapon against climate change the
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project has created what experts call a
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carbon sink essentially a massive
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natural storage system for greenhouse
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gases take Africa's great green wall
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initiative inspired by China's success
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11 countries are working together to
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build a green barrier across the entire
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width of Africa to hold back the Sahara
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Desert what we're seeing in China is
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more than just a massive tree planting
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project it's a blueprint for how humans
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might repair some of the damage we done
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to our planet the battle between forest
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and desert continues but for the first
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time in human history we're seeing that
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it's possible to push back against
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desertification if we're willing to
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think big enough and learn from our
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mistakes so what do you think about this
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massive environmental makeover could
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similar approaches work in other parts
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of the world share your thoughts in the
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comments below
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