Exploring new materials and technologies for sand prevention and desert control to "weave green" into the desert
The reporter learned from the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that the new sand-fixation net and new sand-fixation technology developed by this institution have currently achieved major progress in sand prevention and desert control work in Gansu, Ningxia and other places.
Dunhuang in Gansu is the site of the Mogao Caves, a world cultural heritage site, and is also one of the important source areas of sandstorms in the northwest. During a recent visit to the upper reaches of the Dang River, Dunhuang's "mother river," the reporter saw that sand-fixation nets, like patches of a "green chessboard," were spread across the desert, firmly locking down shifting sand dunes, effectively reducing the windblown sand entering the Dang River Reservoir, and providing a guarantee for Dunhuang's water security.
Qu Jianjun, a researcher at the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Dunhuang Gobi and Desert Research Station, introduced that compared with the straw checkerboard barriers traditionally used for sand prevention and desert control, the green sand-fixation net used in the upper reaches of the Dang River is made of high-density polyethylene material. "This material is more environmentally friendly, convenient to install, low in cost, long in service life, and has a more obvious effect on desert control and sand fixation," Qu Jianjun said. This new material for sand prevention and desert control has also solved the problem of windblown sand disasters faced by the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.
A new technology called soil biological crust has been applied in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. "We extract the microorganisms most suitable for crust formation from algal and moss crusts, culture them artificially in the laboratory, make them into a reagent, and spray it on the sand inside straw checkerboard sand barriers to form a soil crust and achieve the purpose of sand fixation," Li Xinrong, a researcher at the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Shapotou Desert Research and Experiment Station, told the reporter.
Desertification is called the "cancer of the Earth." Data show that China's desertified land area accounts for about 27% of the country's land area. Controlling sand damage and restoring ecology are not only the responsibility of scientific research institutions; more and more enterprises are also joining the ranks of windblown sand prevention and control.
Yang Qingli, founder of Shenzhen Weirun Irrigation Technology Co., Ltd., said that they developed a nano-pore micro-moisture pipe made of polymer semi-permeable membrane material, which solved the problem of desert irrigation. "The micro-moisture pipe is buried underground and can slowly and evenly release moisture, preventing water leakage and evaporation. It can continuously supply water directly from underground to plant roots for 24 hours, making desert irrigation as convenient and effective as ordinary farmland irrigation," Yang Qingli said.
According to reports, this desert irrigation technology was once applied in 2012 to a vegetation restoration project at a rare bird habitat in the western region of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. With the support of irrigation technology, the ecological environment of this once severely degraded desert area has been significantly improved. Not only have a variety of desert plants grown, but desert insects, wild hares and other animals have also appeared.
The results of the fifth national monitoring of desertification and sandy land show that since China's desertified and sandy land areas began to shrink in 2004, they have maintained a "double reduction" for 10 consecutive years.