Yimamu:  

It was in a huge swathe of the desert area where I reckoned I could do something meaningful with my field of study. “I can do it! No matter how difficult it is, I can overcome it! Just do it!” I said to myself.

This is Kekeya Town in Aksu City of southern Xinjiang. It is located at the fringe of China’s largest desert, the Taklamakan Desert. Yet, on the other side, there is a blanket of lush forest. Here we meet the first director of the Kekeya Forest Management Station: Yimamu and his son. This family has, for two generations, devoted their lives to the fight against desertification. Kekeya, this beautiful small town, was once nearly buried by barren soil and sands. But then, 37 years ago, a group of people set about creating a ‘miracle’ here. Not only did they save Kekeya, but also catalyzed a new phase of desert management in Xinjiang.

Yimamu / Former Director

Kekeya’s Forest Management Station :

V: I heard that you used to be a university lecturer. Why did you relinquish that job and take up such a hugely challenging forestry project?  

Yimamu Maimaiti: This place was a barren land, a place where no grass grew. Strong winds blew relentlessly through March, April, and May, you wouldn’t be able to see people just 5 or 6 meters away from you.  Whether they were men or women, tall or short? You couldn’t even tell.

Kekeya is located on the northwest side of China’s largest desert - the Taklamakan Desert, which carries the meaning of  “green cliff” in Uyghur.  Back then, Kekeya was full of yellow soil and sands. In 1985, Yimamu Maimaiti, who was already in his forties, had been a university teacher for nearly 20 years at Tarim University. Originally, he was going to be transferred back to Aksu to continue teaching. However, having specialized in agriculture and horticulture, he came back to join the newly established Kekeya Forest Management Station as the director. Since then, his life has completely changed. His personal destiny is closely linked to the arduous task of forestation and the fight against the ever creeping desert in Kekeya.  This choice has also has greatly changed the course for his son.

Aisikaer :

I think my dad is amazing. At that time he was in fact still working at the university. That was a very decent job and he would put on suits with his hair nicely combed every day.

When I was in the first year of junior high school, my dad became the director of the forest management station, and I saw him transforming into something like a farmer with a long stubbly beard. My mom was angry and argued with him every day, saying that he was a good teacher in the university, with a high pay, and very respectable outlook. She told him to quit this job and that he shouldn’t spend every day in the desert working like a peasant worker.  

They quarreled endlessly. Sometimes he came back just once a week during the tree planting season in spring. He might sleep for a while under the shade of plants on the loose and dusty ground during the day, or he found a place to rest in a nearby farmer’s home.  Only when he wanted to change clothes or do shaving did he venture home. By the time he came back, it was always dark. He would knock on the door and my mom would emerge asking, “Who are you looking for?” She could not even recognize him. We had a dog which also didn’t recognize him, and it barked fiercely. My mom was heartbroken, crying very hard and urging my dad to change his job as soon as possible.

The soil salinity in the Kekeya area is very high, which is not conducive to effective plant growth. After the tree seedlings are planted, they need to be watered, fertilized, and cared for. Extra caution and care are required for each and every step to ensure plant growth. In the summer of 1987, Yimamu led 3 local forest rangers to penetrate every inch of the forestation site and watered each of the first batch of seedlings 13 times a day.

Yimamu:

In May, a bit of green sprouted here and there. In June, one by one, more greenery was squeezing through. After reviewing the results, we were astonished that the average survival rate was 87.5%.  Some places even reached 98%!  It was a roaring success, bearing in mind that this was the desert which hadn’t felt water for hundreds of years.  

Aisikaer:

My father said that we should not give up as we were on the verge of success. The trees were thriving. People in Aksu, had entrusted them to take care of the trees. We had a responsibility to ensure the survival of these trees. We should persist with the mission. My mom began to understand his perspective.  In the 1990s,  a 16-kilometer green barrier in Kekeya was successfully cultivated to fend off the blowing sands. I also had a deeper understanding of my father’s vision.  

Yimamu treated these trees as though they were his children. To ensure the continuity and sustainability of this forestation project, he wanted to find some trustworthy successors to take care of this young forest. Owing to a labour shortage, Yimamu wanted his son Aisikaer to follow his footsteps and work for the forestation project, despite the fact that his son had just graduated from high school and had aspirations to become a soldier instead.

Aisikaer:

I wanted to return to school, but my father insisted that I should work here. He said that many workers were leaving and that I should stay for a while before joining the army. At first, I didn't want to follow his advice. My mother also argued with him, complaining that he had made himself suffered by choice and shouldn’t make my son suffered. But later, I made the decision to stay. Over the next few years, the trees flourished and the environment improved, and I developed great relationships with my colleagues. At that point, I decided to let go of my previous plans and continue working as a forest ranger here. I have been doing it now for 33 years.

B: Will you let your son continue to do this?  

Aisikaer Yimamu:  My child is also studying forestry!  

B: Hahaha, isn’t it difficult?  

Aisikaer:

Many people don’t understand the importance of forestation. My son resides in a city but we still have a lot of desert area here.  Now that the city has been revitalized with greenery, I want my son to contribute to this ongoing greening effort. This will not only benefit him personally, but it also contributes to protecting and improving our environment. It will also help shape him into a resilient individual, a valuable member of the community.

Yimamu’s work has always been deeply connected to the community. He chose forestation and dedicated his life to it. His son and grandson have followed his footsteps, fearless in the face of such a daunting and important task. The collective efforts of generations of forest rangers have resulted in the remarkable transformation of Kekeya’s barren landscape into a green oasis. I like to eat Aksu’s sugar heart apple the most. It is the business card of Aksu, and the hard work of generations of forest rangers also provides a solid “green barrier” for the local farmers’ orchards.

B：I am so touched and impressed with this huge area of greenery.

V：When the local people decided to start this forestation project, they didn’t know whether they can make it or not, or how far they can actually go.  

B：But you see, they did it.

V： Actually, I think this project does not only protect the environment, but greatly enhance the livelihood of the Aksu people.

Aksu has made significant progress in greening effort over the past 30 years. The forest coverage rate has increased from 3% in the 1980s to 9% at present. This expansion of green areas also improves the local climate. The occurrence of sandstorms has decreased from over 100 days to about 30 days a year.

Desertification brings great challenges to human beings and natural ecology. Leaving Kekeya, we set out on the second desert highway in Xinjiang from Alar to Hetian. Since it crosses the Taklamakan Desert which is the “Sea of Death”, this highway has also been dubbed the “Green Great Wall” in the desert, a road of hope. The highway is surrounded by deserts, and sandstorms are frequent, so how can we protect this “road of hope”?

Aksu Highway Administration Bureau Alar Branch Deputy Director

Yang Leyuan

What you see is our current sand control project for desert highways. In recent years, our highway administration bureau has specifically dealt with desertification and prevented desert sands from blowing onto and piling up on the road. The main material used is what we see now, reed poles. Also, looking over there, that is our high sand barrier, which is also made of higher reed poles, forming a natural barrier against sand storms.  

Director Yang says that the high sand barriers are able to block most of the sand from moving onto the road surface, and the straw grids also prevent the roadside wind from blowing up sand and dust and reducing visibility for drivers. This not only greatly reduces the impact of the 6-month windy season from April to September, but also proves helpful when greening and planting trees on the edge of the city. Although the straw grids look neat and nice, they require a lot of manual work to put into the sand.

Yang Leyuan:

Let’s look at these reed poles. This section of the reed pole measures 35 cm, with 15 cm buried underground and 20 cm exposed above.  We bury the reed poles from road shoulder into the desert, covering a distance of 50 meters. In areas where wind and sand are prevalent, we may increase the number of reed poles and ensure that the high sand barrier is at a certain distance from the straw grids. All of these measures are in line with standardized and optimized requirements.

B: How long does it take to cover an area like this?  

Yang Leyuan: Our project usually starts at the end of the year, and on average, we complete approximately two kilometers of work every two months.

We also tried to make a straw grid, and I was soaking with sweat in a very short time. Working under the scorching sun, the dedicated individuals on the desert highway have been toiling for many years to build these grids. The fight against desertification is an arduous process, and it is thanks to the perseverance of our desert fighters that our country is able to illuminate numerous “roads of hope” across the desert and establish vital economic lifelines. Just like the forestation project, these straw grids also benefit both present and future generations.  

V：I once sponsored a girl living in the remote area around the border and she always sent me drawings of the trees. I never understand why until now. The trees actually matter the life and death of the city. And she sent me the most valuable thing in her life.  

B：The battle against the desert is carried forward generation by generation. By safeguarding the forest and main roads, people’s safety and livelihood can be assured and improved.

The Aksu greening project battle is just a small part of China's overall greening strategies and its battle against desertification. In the past seventy years, China's significant greening efforts have resulted in a forest coverage rate of 22%. According to NASA research, from 2000 to 2017, one-quarter of the world's new green areas come from China, making China the leading contributor globally.