It has taken nearly two decades for people in Shandong, a coastal province in east China, to turn 250, 000 hectares of desert area into green land.
The total desertification coverage in the province has reached 832,000 hectares, mainly due to sand storms, soil erosion, and salinization.
Shandong is located in the country's major sand blown area. In order to combat the threats, the agricultural province famous for its vegetable greenhouses has set up some 300 forest farms to grow shelter belts.
Jiuguan Village in the outskirts of Yantai, which has been relocated southward three times to escape overlays by wind-blown sand from the north, is safe at its current location through the reforestation efforts.
(China Daily 08/06/2001)
