Xinjiang to consolidate region's ecological achievements

On Tuesday, a meeting was held in Hotan prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, to consolidate the region's ecological achievement further.

With help from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Xinjiang has added 56,000 square kilometers of new oases, reduced desertified land by nearly 2,000 square kilometers, and decreased the frequency of sandstorms by 14 percent over the past 10 years.

The success lies in development model transformation. In recent years, the region has used desertification control efforts to boost local incomes.

In Makit county, Kashgar, 122 kilometers of sand prevention belts have been built, and the number of days with sandstorms has dropped from an average of 225 days per year to 50 days.

Chen Qiang, secretary of the county committee, said the county has also developed 300,000 mu (20,000 hectares) of jujube with an output of 270,000 tons and an annual output value of 3 billion yuan ($418 million).

By introducing biotech companies, 5,400 households in Hotan's Yutian county were able to plant 80,000 mu (5,333 hectares) of roses and develop derivative products, increasing the per capita annual income of farmers by 4,500 yuan.

In the fight against desertification, Xinjiang also attached great importance to clean energy. In Pishan county, Hotan, a giant straw checkerboard barrier coexists with 24,000 mu (1,600 hectares) of photovoltaic panels.

Zhang Pei, deputy director of the county's forestry and grassland bureau, said the straw checkerboard barrier fixes sand and the photovoltaic panels offer shadow and water storage for drought-enduring plants. This method reduces water vaporization by 30 percent and wind speeds by 40 percent.

The project will be completed in June and will generate 800,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.

In 2025, Xinjiang's plan includes expanding the green belt width from 110 meters to 7,500 meters with an additional 4.79 million mu (about 319,300 hectares) of land to be restored.

It will provide 1.1 billion yuan of funding and promote a "distributed photovoltaic power + brackish water irrigation" method as a pilot project for forest and grassland carbon sequestration that covers 3.9 million mu (260,000 hectares).