Three generations of sand controllers have turned the desert into an oasis in 39 years. How difficult is it to plant trees in the desert?

It is easy to plant trees, but it is particularly difficult to do so

First of all, this incident happened in the Babu Sand Forest Farm in Gulang County, Gansu Province, and the current representative of sand control in the forest farm The character is Guo Xi. In 1981, his grandfather Guo Chaoming mobilized six companions to come to "Babu Sand", kicking off the desert control cause. From that time on, three generations of their family spent 39 years turning the desert into an oasis. At present, 75,000 acres of desert in Babusha has been turned into an oasis. This seems to be quite simple, but the old man in Babusha said that not a single tree survived in one year, which shows that their road to desertification control is not smooth sailing.

How difficult is it to plant trees in the desert?

First of all, any living thing needs water resources to survive, and what happens to be the most lacking in the desert is water resources, and the sand in the desert is very loose because there is no water. In this way, the plants cannot obtain water resources from the sand, so the chance of survival is very low. In many cases, in order to keep the tree alive, it will be continuously supplied with water and various nutrients will be piled on it later. In the end, the cost of a tree may reach several hundred or even higher. And in many cases, even if you have money, you may not be able to keep the saplings alive. The oil countries in the Middle East are an example. They are not short of money at all, but they still have large areas of desert. Another point is that it depends on the type of desert. If it is a desert with extremely harsh environment, then no matter how hard you try, it will probably be useless. Especially in the Sahara Desert, extreme weather often occurs, and the annual rainfall is only 76 mm. This amount of water is far from enough for plant growth. For example, the Mu Us Desert in our country is relatively easy to manage. Currently, 80% of the Mu Us Desert has been managed. This desert will soon disappear. There is a very important factor in the successful management of this desert, and that is precipitation. The annual rainfall reaches about 250 to 400 mm.

Why do we need to control desertification?

The impact of deserts on the environment is very large, and if the desert is not managed, it may continue to expand, and eventually it will encroach on the areas where we humans live. In the past few years, some cities had sandstorms, and the reason was that they were too close to the desert. The wind in the desert is very strong. Whenever the strong wind blows, it will roll the sand into the sky, and the sand will be blown into the city or the forest area, which will have a bad impact on both plants and humans. I think This should be the direct reason why humans control desertification!

In addition, soil erosion in the Gobi Desert is very serious, and planting trees can fix the sand and improve our living environment. The sediment in the Yellow River is a very typical example. If the desert is allowed to continue to expand, it will eventually lead to unbearable consequences, so desert control is a very good decision.

However, there is a long way to go to control desertification, and it will definitely not be completed overnight. It is even more rare for three generations of Guo Xi’s family to persist for 39 years, so we should support and respect this group of people. They, because what they are doing is very meaningful and something that many people cannot do.