THREE NORTH SHELTER FOREST PROGRAM

Northern, northwestern and northeastern China
Chinese Communist Party Government

The regions that are classified as semi-arid across China have increased by 33% between 1994 and 2008. The Three North Shelter Forest Program (TNSFP) is a collaboration between the Three North Bureau and regional forestry departments that has been ongoing for four decades since its inception in 1978, with a proposed completion date in 2050. The program is the world's largest afforestation campaign, and is named after the three regions in China where the program is active, including Xinjiang, Gansu, northern Qinghai, Ningxia, west inner Mongolia and north Shaanxi. The TNSFP is spatially organized beneath the Gobi Desert to stop the encroaching desert and threat of sandstorms from northeastern China. Due to its length, the project has progressed in phases, from an integrated development of basic farmland and pasture lands along the wall, to an ecological shelterbelt forest system, followed by the development of a regional shelter forest system, quality control measures to ensure the success of the campaign, and a final focus on key regions that may need additional support, especially regions where sand dunes are contained with a checkerboard planting pattern of sand-tolerant vegetation. While the project was originally proposed as a monolithic line of trees, it also incorporates shrubs and grasses in arid land, and has created ex-situ and in-situ areas to conserve native tree species whose ranges are contracting due to climate change.The project primarily uses monocultures of fast-growing tree species, and uses a variety of labor sources, including aerial seeding, hiring forests, and offering farmers cash incentives to plant trees and shrubs.

1978 - 2050
1000000000 acres
5184 feet above sea level

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