China's Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program (TSFP), a large-scale afforestation project, has achieved a major milestone with the fulfillment of 10.93 million hectares of afforestation and sand control tasks across three key "battlefronts", according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA) on Friday.
Launched in 1978, the TSFP consists of afforestation in northwest, north and northeast China, in order to hold back the aftermath of sandstorms and soil erosion. The entire program, covering 13 of the 31 provincial-level regions in the Chinese mainland, is expected to be completed by 2050. This cross-century program consists of eight phases of work and is currently in its sixth phase.
To strengthen the TSFP, the NFGA has established the eastern, central and western "battlefronts", namely the Horqin-Hunshandake Sand Area, the Yellow River "bent" area, and the Hexi Corridor-Taklimakan Desert edge area. So far, 415 projects have been carried out on those three fronts of the TSFP.
Since the TSFP's launch, over 100 advanced technologies have been applied and popularized on the program, mechanized sand control has accounted for nearly 50 percent of the afforestation, the rate of utilization of premium plant varieties on the program has topped 70 percent, and the desertification control efficiency in the execution of the program has been tripled through the application of advanced equipment like drones.
So far, 2.9 billion yuan (about 404 million U.S. dollars) in remuneration has been paid for sand control work, creating jobs and raising incomes for 380,000 local farmers and herders.
According to planning, the implementation of the TSFP on the three key "battlefronts" will see the fulfillment of over 70 percent of the sixth-phase work of executing the TSFP by 2027 and conclusion of all tasks in this phase by 2030 as scheduled.
Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program hits desert control milestone
