For nearly 50 years, China has placed straw grids across its deserts; desertified land is now shrinking by over 1,000 sq km a year, but scientists say the fight is far from over
- Desert control worker Yin Yuzhen walks along sand dunes covered by grass checkerboard that's part of desertification control efforts at the Engebei Ecological Area near Ordos in northern China's Inner Mongolia province on Friday, June 12, 2026.
- (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)Across the deserts of northern China, a quiet, repetitive movement has played out for nearly 50 years: People bending down, pressing long straw bundles into shifting sand, then planting tiny saplings in the empty squares they’ve created.
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- Desert control worker Yin Yuzhen walks along sand dunes covered by grass checkerboard that's part of desertification control efforts at the Engebei Ecological Area near Ordos in northern China's Inner Mongolia province on Friday, June 12, 2026.
- (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)Across the deserts of northern China, a quiet, repetitive movement has played out for nearly 50 years: People bending down, pressing long straw bundles into shifting sand, then planting tiny saplings in the empty squares they’ve created.
Sources: Times of India