(select title for link to video on CCTV)

The Chinese government is undertaking a huge tree planting program in an effort to halt desertification.  At first glance it seems like a great idea, but the reality is much more complicated.

Tree planting is a catchy and buzz-wordy kind of policy that generates lots of positive emotions, but the reality is that planting monocultures of non-native trees does not reverse desertification. Usually they require massive irrigation or else they all die—right after the shiny local government official photo-op. And these trees are not as efficient at stabilizing sand dunes as the native vegetation. One positive practice that this videos captures, but does not describe in this video, is the creation of straw “checkerboards” on the dunes. This stabilizes the sand and allows the native early sucessional species to re-establish. More of that kind of restoration would do so much more to halt the spread of desertification in China…. but a massive strategy to plant straw just doesn’t sound as catchy as planting trees.