与沙漠之间的战争

沙漠化现象可能是自然的。作为自然现象的沙漠化是因为地球干燥带移动，所产生的气候变化导致局部地区沙漠化。不过，今日世界各地沙漠化原因，多数归咎于人为原因；人口急速增长，所居土地被过分耕种以及牧畜，导致土地枯渴不适合耕种。

Many people think China is not a desert nation, but deserts cover about 27 percent of the country, especially in northwestern China where two of the biggest deserts in the world, the Gobi and the Taklamakan meet.

Now developers in the northwestern regions are venturing into the desert, pushing back the sand and setting up "green belts" for the development of these regions.

Wang Youde is an anti-desertification project manager in the Baijitan Forestry Centre of Lingwu Town in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

He has devoted the last 21 years of his life to holding back and even pushing back the sand.　

However, Mr. Wang says what he and his crew have done is the easier part; the much more difficult part of anti-desertification needs even more investment and labor.

[Interview of Wang Youde]

Of course, water is the key for people's survival and development in these areas. Many families were forced to leave their homes due to a lack of water.

Lan Faxue, a migrant from a remote desert area, had to walk an hour to carry water to his house before he was relocated in Tian liang village in Ningxia. Now the well in his courtyard has enabled him to settle down.

In order to create a better environment and keep these regions livable, China has planted thousands of hectares of vegetation to stop the spread of deserts located in the north and west of the country.

However, the local rush into the marginal land that used to serve as a buffer between them and the deserts has caused serious damages to the green belt.

Qu Jianjun, research professor at the Cold and Arid regions Environmental Research Institute observes that this is where the desert fights back.

[Interview of Qu Jianjun]

If people are going to push further into the deserts to try to make them livable, they will face an uphill battle.