Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene (right), Prime Minister of Mongolia, visits the China Pavilion on Monday. [Photo by Yan Dongjie/chinadaily.com.cn]
China has made significant scientific advancements in combating desertification while achieving substantial economic benefits at the same time. These experiences are worth sharing with the world, foreign experts said.
"Scientists in China have taken on issues that in the past seem to be very difficult to solve," said Barron Joseph Orr, chief scientist of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, after visiting an exhibition at the China Pavilion in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Monday.
In technologies such as soil implements that reduce erode, "China is very strong in this regard in terms of how that's applicable elsewhere. Those techniques are transferable and there's a very big effort in China to get it out to the world," he said.
A China Pavilion showcasing China's history and achievements in sand control, especially in the 73-year-spanning Three-North Shelterbelt Program that has built what is known as a "green Great Wall" across 13 provinces and autonomous regions in northern China, was opened on Monday at the 16th Session of the Conference of the Parties of the UNCCD.
Guan Zhi'ou, director of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (right), tours the China Pavilion with Andrea Meza Murillo, deputy executive secretary of the UNCCD, on Monday. [Photo by Yan Dongjie/chinadaily.com.cn]
China's efforts in holding back its deserts date back over 50 years. According to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, 53 percent of China's treatable desertified land has been managed. By the end of last year, China's forest coverage rate exceeded 25 percent.
China joined the UNCCD in 1994 as one of its first signatories, and has been twice honored by UNCCD secretary for its "outstanding contribution to combating desertification".
Chinese people have developed various methods such as the straw checkboard barrier fixing sand dunes, aerial seeding and sandy land closure for revegetation, overcoming technical challenges in the restoration of forest and grass cover in arid and semi-arid areas and significantly improving survival rates, said Guan Zhi'ou, head of the Chinese delegation to the COP16 and director of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
"In recent years, mechanized and intelligent technologies such as sand fixation machinery, data monitoring, and drone seeding have been widely adopted," he said.
These technologies and methods are also being showcased at the China Pavilion, along with China's ecological civilization concept, typical character stories in the history of desert control, as well as economic crops such as sea buckthorn and goji berries that bring benefits to people in desertified areas.
Chinese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chang Hua (left) reads about the Three-North Shelterbelt Program on Monday. [Photo by Yan Dongjie/chinadaily.com.cn]
Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene, Prime Minister of Mongolia, visited the China Pavilion on Monday. He said that he was impressed by the new technologies, such as some AI-related land monitoring and data analysis facilities.
Jia Xiaoxia, deputy director of the Department of Desertification Control of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, who guided Oyun-Erdene around the pavilion, said: "There has been a lot of cooperation with neighboring countries — including Mongolia — in sand control, and we'd love to share our new technology experience in the future."
Orr said that he sensed in the scientific community in China the eagerness to engage. "We need far more scientists that are able to bridge society, science, policy, and practice," he said.
When talking about challenges such as understanding wind erosion and how it contributes to sand and dust storms, modelling and projecting datasets, and the ability to integrate economic data and biophysical data, Orr said that "China has been central to these kinds of analyses, and that's been very positive to the global agenda on addressing land degradation, drought and desertification".
Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene (center), Prime Minister of Mongolia, visits the China Pavilion on Monday. [Photo by Yan Dongjie/chinadaily.com.cn]
Andrea Meza Murillo, deputy executive secretary of the UNCCD, said she was impressed with China's experience in the combination of sand control efforts and economic outcomes, as well as green energy.
In the Three-North Shelterbelt Program, regions utilize the unique resources of sandy areas to develop industries such as traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, high-quality forage grass, economic orchards, desert tourism and so on, to support poverty alleviation efforts and rural revitalization, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
"So the China model is really showing that you can have development with these greenways," she said.
Chinese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chang Hua said that in recent years, China has collaborated with Saudi Arabia on projects such as solar energy and new energy vehicles, continuously exchanging experiences to prevent desertification.
He said that near Saudi Arabia's Jeddah city, one of the largest solar power plants in the Middle East is currently under construction, being built by a Chinese company. Chinese renewable energy companies, especially those specializing in solar power generation, are highly popular in Saudi Arabia as well.
"Saudi Arabia has put forward the initiatives of 'Green Middle East' and 'Green Saudi Arabia', which align with our green development principles. Against the backdrop of the Belt and Road Initiative, green development stands out as an excellent area for cooperation between us," he said.
