A shelter forest on the edge of the Taklamakan desert with newly ripe mulberries hanging from branches. Zinab Bora from Ethiopia plucked a fruit from a mulberry tree and put it in his mouth, sweet on his tongue, but full of taste in his heart.
Bora grew up in famine brought about by the ecological crisis of desertification and saw desertification as a lifelong enemy. On the eve of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought on June 17, Birla and experts from countries on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert in Africa attended a training course on desertification control in Xinjiang, China, to investigate China's desertification prevention and control and desertification prevention and control technologies.
From Korla to Hotan, from the conference room to the sandy field, this "dialogue" that connects the two deserts of the world, which is separated by thousands of miles, brings more green hope to the world.
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Meeting across thousands of miles
Well House No. 12 is isolated next to a desert road where only vehicles come and go. Not far away, photovoltaic panels are neatly arranged, like a deep blue island, absorbing the energy of the scorching sun in the sea of sand.
The bus was loaded with participants from the China-Africa sand control training course and drove along the Tarim Desert Highway to No. 12 Water Well House. Along the road through the heart of the Taklamakan Desert, there are 109 such stations, pumping water and drip irrigation in shelter forests and supplying electricity to workers' lives.
The trainees stepped out of the car, and the fatigue of the long journey for several days seemed to be swept away. Together with Endrias Gota, Minister of State for Irrigation and Lowlands of Ethiopia, Bora circled around the photovoltaic panels several times, brushed off the dust on the photovoltaic panels with his hands, leaned over to observe the drip irrigation tape laid on the ground, and carefully studied the introduction materials of the photovoltaic power generation drip irrigation facility.
Geta said that photovoltaic drip irrigation facilities are easy to install, have no carbon emissions, can flexibly adjust the water content of the land, and if combined with the water conservancy system, it can conserve rainy rain for dry season irrigation, "which is the solution our country urgently needs."
Nigerian student Abdelhamid Barra wears the robe of the indigenous "kaftan" every day, carefully smoothing every fold as he rides in the car. But when he gets to the desert, he can't take care of this, and he always rushes ahead of the hands-on practical link.
According to the lectures and demonstrations of Chinese experts, the head of ecology and forestry of the Kano State Ministry of Environment filled strip-shaped degradable lactic acid fiber sandbags with sand, arranged them in a checkered shape, picked up a heavy iron hammer, knocked small stakes into the sand, and surrounded it with a high-density sand fixing net.
"Why is the size of the Sand Fixing Square one meter by one meter?" "Is this green sand fixing net plastic? Is it degradable? ”...... After the operation, before he could pat the dust off his body, Bala surrounded Wang Yongdong, a senior engineer at the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Xinjiang Institute of Biological Land), and kept asking.
On June 12, at the Taklamakan Desert Mechanical Sand Control Demonstration Zone, Chinese experts demonstrated the installation process of the new sand control net to African trainees. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Xiaolong
More than a decade ago, Barra was a teacher and learned mechanical sand control methods using local materials in Gansu. "When I went back, I led a research that taught these methods to nearly 70 students, who in turn brought the technology to different parts of Nigeria." Barra said.
During this inspection, he found an "upgraded version" and "integrated version" of the original technology. He said: "Scientific desertification control methods are very important, I cherish this opportunity to expand my horizons, and I must learn it to have the confidence to go back and teach others." ”
On June 12, at the Taklamakan Desert Mechanical Sand Control Demonstration Zone, Chinese experts demonstrated the installation process of the new sand control net to African trainees. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Shengbin
This is the second time that the Xinjiang Institute of Biological Land has held a technical training course on the construction of the "Great Green Wall" in Africa, which opened on June 8 and lasted for 13 days. As part of this training course, the 3rd Taklamakan Desert Forum was held in Korla from 10 to 12.
Jia Xiaoxia, Science and Technology Programme Officer at the UNCCD Secretariat, told the forum that the Convention supports all parties affected by drought and desertification to strengthen science-based decision-making, and "we need to work together to promote scientific understanding, share knowledge and technology, and improve operational capacity."
Only by following the path can we go far. Respecting scientific laws and adhering to scientific desertification control is the consensus of Chinese and African experts.
Omar Diallo, a Mauritanian trainee, was very impressed. He said that in order to formulate the most scientific plan, Chinese experts flew to Mauritania no less than 10 times, and finally decided to establish a rapid fixation of quicksand and water-saving irrigation experimental demonstration area in response to the urgent problems to be solved locally.
Lei Jiangjiang, a researcher at the Xinjiang Institute of Biological Land, said that the plan for China-Africa cooperation in desertification control was only developed after many field visits and repeated studies. "In Nigeria, our focus is on controlling soil erosion, and in Ethiopia, restoring degraded grasslands." China also benefits from cooperation, "cooperation with African countries is very helpful for Chinese researchers to better explore the drivers and driving mechanisms of desertification."
Desertification control is a great undertaking related to the sustainable development of mankind. China and Africa continue to engage in policy dialogue and information sharing, and continue to advance this cause with tried and tested scientific solutions.
The acquaintance of the sand bond
During a road trip in the Tarim Desert, Omar Danladi Dahiru, head of Nigeria's African Desertification Control Initiative, learned that the tree is drought-tolerant and saline-tolerant. He approached Xu Xinwen, a Chinese expert, and gestured as he spoke, wondering if the shuttle tree could be cultivated by cuttings instead of sowing seeds.
"We all grow seedlings from seeds in the breeding base, and then transplant them into the sand, not cuttings." Xu Xinwen said, "Nigeria only has rainy and dry seasons, and the shuttle trees have to bloom in spring and bear fruit in autumn. ”
Dahiru asked, "How do you know if you don't try?" ”
"Okay, then let's try it in the cooperation demonstration area in Nigeria." Xu Xinwen and Dahiru looked at each other and smiled.
The two met 12 years ago, when Xu Xinwen visited Nigeria for the first time, coinciding with the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought on June 17, when he and Dahiru and others tried to plant a small native Nigerian tree seedling to mark the day.
Dahiru did not know that Xu Xinwen had won the "Chinese Academy of Sciences Person of the Year" because of his long-term roots in the desert and research on sand control technology, but he admired Xu Xinwen's professionalism. "To become such a person, you must have great skills." Dahiru said.
On the sofa in Xu's home has been a leather paneled cushion with his name embroidered on it. It was a gift that Dahiru had specially prepared when he went to Nigeria in 2018.
"Dahiru is an active and energetic person who values Chinese experts and arranges things carefully." Speaking of this friend, Xu Xinwen was full of approval. Under the influence of Dahiru, many Nigerian students came to Xinjiang to study abroad.
According to information provided by Xinjiang Habitat, Chinese experts have begun to build a technology demonstration zone in Kano State in northern Nigeria, which combines the functions of shelter forest optimization and economy, and has selected 4 trial species from more than 10 native tree species in Nigeria and promoted them to local communities.
A recent on-site visit by a Xinhua reporter found that it is not easy to build such a park. Located in a remote location, near the village of Gualmai in Kano State, the park is a sandy area of about 4 hectares enclosed by barbed wire. After a 40-minute flight from Nigeria's capital, Abuja, to Kano city, it's about an hour and a half to drive on bumpy dirt roads.
There are currently more than 50 households in the village of Gualmai, and the roads and a small square are covered by yellow sand, and the thickest part of the sand can reach the instep. Project volunteer Balra Mohammed has lived there for generations.
"We really appreciate this collaborative project." Wind and sand sometimes destroy crops and even houses, he said, leading some people to move out of their villages to seek living in the cities, "but our family is attached to our homeland, and now this project gives us hope."
On June 12, in the Taklamakan Desert Mechanical Sand Control Demonstration Area, African and Central Asian trainees visited the new technology of sand fixation. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Shengbin
"These African countries are all developing countries, and they are forced to go to the desert for survival and space." Xu Xinwen, who was born in rural Shandong in the 60s of the 20th century, said, "I know the hardship and want to share with them the experience I have practiced in China." ”
True and sincere, sharing hardships. Combating desertification has linked the hearts of the Chinese and African people, and the common expectation of a beautiful homeland has crossed deserts, mountains and seas, and stirred more spiritual resonance in China-Africa cooperation.
Protecting the homeland together
Bora made a sweet discovery when she was a child: colorful flowers in different lands can give honey different colors and flavors.
Growing up, he developed a keen interest in ecological restoration, went to China to pursue a PhD in combating desertification, and now works for the Department of Irrigation and Livestock Development in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. He said that the reason for choosing this business is to protect more land in Ethiopia, which is prone to periodic droughts, so that the land can grow its proper flowers and crops, so that people will not suffer from famine and taste different foods.
Africa's Sahel region has long been plagued by the southern invasion of the Sahara Desert. In 2007, 11 sub-Saharan countries formed the Pan-African Great Green Wall, led by the African Union, with plans to build a protective belt about 15 kilometers wide and 7,000 kilometers long across Africa to block the erosion of the world's largest desert.
On June 13, at the Celle Desert Research Station of Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese experts introduced desert plants to African and Central Asian participants. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Shengbin
Marcelan Sanou, senior director of the Pan-African Great Green Wall Secretariat, said that the reason for the joint launch of the Great Green Wall is to combat desertification through cross-border cooperation.
"This is an important part of the global achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals." Zhang Linxiu, Director of the United Nations Environment Programme's International Ecosystem Management Partnership, commented on the initiative launched by African countries.
According to the information provided by Xinjiang Shengdi, after long-term systematic monitoring, experimental research and promotion and application, Chinese and African experts have built a rapid fixed quicksand and water-saving irrigation experimental demonstration area in Nuakchott, the capital of Mauritania. Establishment of a pilot demonstration area for "economic forest conservation" in Kano State, Nigeria; In view of the ecological restoration and reconstruction of shrubland grassland in low-altitude areas of Ethiopia, a model of ecological restoration and sustainable development of livelihood of shrubland grassland with "clear irrigation and grass cultivation, sealed and rotational grazing, and combination of pastoral and pastoral care" was constructed, and 200 hectares of fenced and sealed breeding demonstration area and 2 hectares of forest and grassland demonstration area for water harvesting restoration were built.
The study by Central African experts found that the total area of desertification in the Sahel region showed a downward trend between 2000 and 2020, from 72.31% to 69.23%.
The inspiration for building Africa's "Great Green Wall" actually came from China's "Three Norths" shelterforest system project from Heilongjiang in the east to Xinjiang in the west.
On June 13, at the Tazhong Botanical Garden, the hinterland of the Taklamakan Desert, Chinese technicians introduced desert plants to African trainees. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Shengbin
Poplars stand tall, dates are shady, tamarix is continuous... While walking through the desert area, you can see the protective forest belt from time to time from the window of the bus full of training course participants. Diallo, who serves as a technical adviser to Mauritania's national "Great Green Wall" organization, lamented: "If you don't see it with your own eyes, it is difficult to have such an intuitive sense of the scale of China's shelter forests, and these forest belts are only a small part of China's shelter forest system." ”
The achievements of China's "Three North" shelter forest project have also strengthened the confidence of Africa's "Great Green Wall" builders. Bitu Shibabawu, an official with the Ethiopian Forestry Development Agency, said China had done wonders in combating desertification through the implementation of shelter forest projects, and "China is a good learning object for countries interested in combating desertification."
In order to build a beautiful homeland of harmony and coexistence, China and Africa are promoting more and more green development cooperation.
In 2017, Xinjiang Institute of Biological Land and the Pan-African "Great Green Wall" Organization jointly established the Pan-African "Great Green Wall" Research Center, and the Xinjiang Institute of Biological Land provided technical training and experimental demonstrations as a technical supporter.
At the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Nairobi, Kenya, the China-Africa Joint Research Center jointly established by China and the Kenyan government has been established for 10 years, and its main research directions include biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of biological resources, and cooperation with the pan-African "Great Green Wall" organization is also one of the key tasks of the center.
You have me, I have you, and China and Africa have always been a community of common destiny. Working hand in hand to explore the future, China and Africa continue to exchange and cooperate in the field of ecological and environmental protection, so that desertification control can benefit mankind and protect the earth home of harmony and coexistence.
Text reporter: Ge Chen Zhang Xiaolong
Participating reporters: Wang Songyu, Guo Yuqi, Li Wen, Wang Ping, Guo Jun, Bai Lin, Zhou Shengbin, Li Zhuoqun
Video reporters: Guo Jun, Wang Ping, Zhou Shengbin, Li Xiang, Zhang Xiaolong
Reporter: Adwale
Poster design: Sun Yao
Editors: Zhang Zhongxia, Huang Kun, Li Xuemei, Guo Yang, Qi Wenjuan, Chen Haitong, Wang Pei, Sui Lixi, Cheng Hao, Guo Jieyu
Coordinator: Wang Jie, He Yuxin