URUMQI, Xinjiang — China’s massive environmental engineering effort to halt the expansion of the Taklimakan Desert has reached a new milestone, effectively stabilizing sand dune migration with a 3,046-kilometer ecological barrier. Marking its first anniversary, the project, recently recognized among the “2025 Top 10 Global Engineering Achievements” by the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), serves as a model for blending extensive ecological restoration with sustainable economic development in arid regions.
Dubbed a “green scarf” encircling the nation’s largest desert, this barrier—the world’s longest of its kind—is actively protecting critical oases, farmland, and grasslands in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Over the past year, 21 key counties and cities expanded the barrier by 593,400 hectares, enhancing its width and reinforcing its sustainability with improved infrastructure, including water and electricity supply networks.
Reversing the Tide of Desertification
The core strategy involves a sophisticated shift from the historical “desert advancing, people retreating” scenario to one where “green is advancing, and desert is retreating.” This success stems from integrating engineering, biological, and industrial solutions carefully tailored to the region’s extreme conditions, such as high winds and water scarcity. Innovative techniques, including grass checkerboard stabilization and the strategic planting of drought-resistant vegetation like saxaul and rose willow, have transformed mobile sand dunes.
In Yutian County, a region prone to severe gales, the combination of grass checkerboards and a “terraced desert” model significantly reduced land leveling costs while achieving an 85% vegetation survival rate. Furthermore, the 436-kilometer shelterbelt along the Tarim Desert Highway features over 20 million drought-tolerant plants, supported by advanced smart pipeline systems championed as the “Tarim solution” for desert control and regional planning.
Technology plays a crucial role in these efforts. In Shaya County, photovoltaic desert control technology utilizes solar power to extract brackish groundwater for drip irrigation, creating sustainable green zones. According to Song Ye, director of the Shaya forestry and grassland bureau, more than 30 distributed photovoltaic water-pumping systems have helped convert 63,000 mu of desert into productive land.
Ecological Restoration Fuels Economic Prosperity
Beyond environmental gains, the project has transitioned desertification control into a sustainable economic engine, creating a “golden necklace” of prosperity along the desert’s edge. This integrated approach, which includes engineering and industry, has been widely applauded for linking ecological health with local livelihoods.
For residents like Tursunbaq Mahmuthet and Sudiumay Tursun from Hotan County, the return of ecology has spurred entrepreneurship. Inspired by the thriving sand date tree saplings, the couple co-founded a cooperative, cultivating crops on reclaimed desert land and benefiting from the revitalized ecosystem. They recalled the dramatic change: “We never imagined we’d be able to cultivate these trees here… In the past, the village environment was so harsh.”
The burgeoning sand industries now span 10.8 million mu of desert land, generating an annual output value of approximately $4.1 billion, and engaging over 360 processing enterprises. High-value crops such as roses and cistanche—a parasitic plant highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine—are leading this economic shift. Yutian County, for instance, produces 80% of China’s cistanche, providing stable employment for over 10,000 residents.
This comprehensive model has also significantly boosted tourism. Attractions like the Shaya Poplar Forest and Yuli Lop Nur Village now draw more than 15 million visitors annually. By 2025, the expansion of sand industries is estimated to have increased the average annual incomes of 300,000 farmers and herders by $420 to $630, establishing a powerful feedback loop where environmental commitment directly leads to widespread economic benefit.
As Peter Gilruth, a senior advisor at World Agroforestry (ICRAF), noted, this massive undertaking requires a profound, long-term commitment, blending political will, financial investment, and multi-stakeholder collaboration, creating a scalable model for addressing global desertification challenges.