Now a local institution in northwest China's Gansu province, Wang and his family lead busloads of young volunteers from the provincial capital of Lanzhou into the desert each year to plant and irrigate new trees and bushes. Villagers were also accused of illegally felling trees, and authorities were ordered to reclaim the illegally occupied land. Gradually the surviving vineyards would be replaced with trees, a manager said, a move that would affect hundreds of farmers. But with local governments under pressure to grow the economy and guarantee food supplies, China's tree-planting may also be reaching a point of diminishing returns. CHANGING CLIMATEMa said the sandstorms that hit Beijing in March did not mean planting trees had failed, but showed it would no longer be enough to offset the impact of climate change.

Source: Mint June 02, 2021 22:52 UTC