March 13, 2025 (EIRNS)—On March 12, which was the 47th National Tree Planting Day in China, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA) released a report showing that in 2024, China added 7.67 million hectares to productive land from desert and otherwise barren soils, through tree planting and land restoration, advancing afforestation and high-quality development.
Recalling that economist Zhang Weiwei told the Dec. 7-8, 2024 Schiller Institute conference that China could build the proposed Oasis Plan in Palestine, based on its experience in greening the deserts of China, the NFGA report says: “In a significant step toward combating desertification, around 3.80 million hectares of sandy and stony land were rehabilitated last year as part of the effort in promoting the construction of the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, a large-scale afforestation project covering 4.069 million square kilometers in the northeastern, northern and northwestern regions of China, which is close to half the size of the country [!] and is the world’s largest desertification control project.”
