This anti-desertification technology, known as the "straw checkerboard sand barrier," originated in China and has since spread throughout the world. In 2023, I met Tang Xining, a 57-year-old scientist who has been fighting desertification in Ningxia for more than 30 years. He is the third-generation Chinese scientist to employ... the "straw checkerboard sand barrier". More than 487 square kilometers of land have been spared from desertification because to his efforts. He has modernized the method using machines and other cutting-edge technology, earning five patents. The original "straw checkerboard sand barrier" only kept 25% of the desert's grass alive, whereas the new technique keeps almost 75% of the plants thriving. He showed me how to make a "straw checkerboard sand barrier" the old-fashioned way. The straw checkerboard sand barriers were originally created for building the desert section of the Baotou-Lanzhou Railway. Researchers discovered that straws arranged in a checkerboard pattern on the desert floor can effectively control the movement of sand dunes. In 1955, the Chinese Academy of Sciences established China’s first comprehensive observation station in Shapotou; and then the following year, the country’s first specialized sand-break forest was launched. After numerous failures and explorations, straw checkerboard sand barriers were adopted as the main method to deal with moving sand when the railway opened. The method was applauded by experts from both home and abroad at the United Nations Conference on Desertification (UNCOD) in Nairobi in 1977. Since then, foreign experts and personnel came one after another to Shapotou to learn the unique method. In China, the fight against desertification and for environmental conservation began with the deployment of straw checkerboard sand barriers.show more

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