China’s biggest tree-planting effort is the Great Green Wall in the country’s arid and semi-arid north. Started in 1978, the Great Green Wall was created to slow the expansion of deserts. Over the last five decades, it has helped grow forest cover from about 10% of China’s area in 1949 to more than 25%

Collectively, China’s ecosystem restoration initiatives account for 25% of the global net increase in leaf area between 2000 and 2017.

  • theolodis@feddit.org
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    12 hours ago

    Did you read the article? They planted the trees to prevent soil erosion, which worked seemingly well, and overall China has more water now, just unevenly distributed.

    Nothing they couldn’t fix, and a great example of what can be achieved if a country makes a plan and goes through with it.

    • Bortcorns4Jeezus@lemmy.world
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      1 hour ago

      They have u also built a gigantic aqueduct that brings water from the south to the north.

      The problem is that the north is and always has been a desert. Beijing is not a sustainable place to build a huge city.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      The one good thing about China’s authoritarianism is that they can plan and execute over the long term. Meanwhile, in America, we can implode over the course of a couple of years.

      • Dearth@lemmy.world
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        54 minutes ago

        Chinese authoritarianism is more effective at improving the lives of more people than American authoritarianism