Man, 82, builds a 34 km 'Green Great Wall' in Taklimakan Desert over 41 years

Man, 82, builds a 34 km 'Green Great Wall' in Taklimakan Desert over 41 years

Viewed from above, a vast belt of poplar trees stretches 34 kilometers along the edge of the endless desert, resembling a "Green Great Wall" that guards Halmodun Village in Hejing County, Xinjiang, on the northwestern edge of the Taklimakan Desert.

The Green Great Wall: China’s 47 year effort at combating climate and land degradation

Since 1978, China has led an environmental campaign of historic proportions to combat desertification in its dry northern lands. This colossal effort, known as the Three-North Shelterbelt Program—or the “Green Great Wall”—ranks among the largest ecological restoration projects ever attempted. Stretching across the northeast, north, and northwest, the project was crafted to shield farms, cities, and ecosystems from the relentless advance of deser…