Rural workers rely on drought-resistant species to curb sand spread in Gansu, Inner Mongolia

Editor's note: As protection of the planet's flora, fauna and resources becomes increasingly important, China Daily is publishing a series of stories to illustrate the country's commitment to safeguarding the natural world.

In the predawn silence at 4 am in Wuwei city, Gansu province, Guo Xi rises from slumber.

His day starts with tending to the free-roaming chickens on a shared farm in the desert, tidying up their coops and preparing their feed, which is made from corn kernels.

By the time dawn breaks, Guo has already finished breakfast and has made his way to the water storage station. There, it takes about 10 minutes to fill the water tank attached to his truck to capacity.

He then drives the fully loaded 15-metric-ton water truck toward the desert.

A third-generation ranger at the Babusha forest farm, Guo's primary daily task is to take care of the vegetation on the 300-square-kilometer desert. With each truckload of water nurturing about 100 trees, he has to make 10 round trips from the water station to the desert each day to complete the task, working until nightfall.

"If I wake up earlier, I can make a few more trips to transport water, so that I can care for more trees," he said.

For the past eight years, Guo, 39, has shouldered the responsibility of leading sand control initiatives in his homeland. He is one of many residents contributing to the development of a national ecological security barrier in the western region.

READ MORE: China forges ahead at forefront of global battle against desertification

Located at the southern edge of the Tengger Desert, China's fourth-largest, the Babusha farm — "Eight-step Sand" farm in Chinese due to people claiming sand was just eight steps from their doors — suffered from severe desertification in the last century, resulting in the displacement of many of the locals. The speed at which sand encroached upon farmlands and villages surged to 7.5 meters per year by the 1980s.

Recognizing the severity of the ecological problem, the Gulang county government, which is administered by Wuwei, introduced a contract responsibility system in 1981 to motivate residents to engage in anti-desertification initiatives. Under this system, people were tasked with managing a specific area of the desert while also enjoying the economic benefits resulting from their endeavors in reclaiming and revitalizing the area.

Although the Gulang government also promised to offer sapling subsidies at 75 yuan ($10.50) per hectare, residents were still unwilling to participate because of the extreme difficulty of desert control. Only six people were willing to bear the responsibility of managing the Babusha farm, which covers an area of 50 sq km.

Considering the time-consuming nature of desert control, they also pledged to ensure that at least one descendant in each generation would shoulder the responsibility.

"My grandfather was among the six, but I had no insights on desert management until 2016," Guo said.

Taking up a legacy

He explained that when he was a child, he used to enjoy playing in the desert, as he "harbored a keen curiosity about the mysteries concealed within the yellow sand".

That fondness dwindled when he got a bit older. While he was in primary school, his grandfather involved him in tree-planting activities, and he began to see the desert as a monotonous and exhausting place that he wanted to avoid at all costs.

"Due to the negative lingering impact of my childhood encounters with the desert, I sought employment operating heavy machinery in Lanzhou (Gansu's capital) after completing junior high school," Guo said.

He was drawn back to the desert in the autumn of 2016, however, after his uncle Guo Wangang, a second-generation ranger, asked him to help plant trees again.

Guo Xi reluctantly accepted, but as he worked, his perspective of the desert was once again altered.

"For the first time, I truly experienced the hardships of desert afforestation," he said. "Due to the demanding work, we had to leave early in the morning, return late at night and eat sand-filled steamed buns for lunch. Sometimes, when the planting locations were far away, we even had to sleep in the desert."

READ MORE: How China leads global fight against desertification

But through that experience, Guo Xi said he was able to see their efforts bearing fruit, and grew to appreciate the value of what they had done.

"When I climbed the highest dune in the spring, I saw clusters of white and yellow flowers dotted across the sand, with my gray-haired, wrinkled uncle by my side," he said. "A sense of achievement washed over me, and I suddenly understood the value of the enduring dedication of the preceding two generations. It was at that time that I decided to take up the burden from my uncle and take on the responsibility of desert management."

Since then, Guo has made several innovations. For instance, he applied the heavy machinery operation skills he had acquired working in Lanzhou to streamline the planting process. In addition, he boosted the incomes of his fellow rangers by introducing poultry farming and expanding chicken sales via livestreaming platforms.

The farm currently houses over 10,000 chickens and sells about 5,000 annually.

The desert management project in Babusha has been successfully completed. Guo and his colleagues are now tasked with managing an area of 300 sq km, achieving an impressive vegetation coverage rate of about 80 percent.

"I have deep roots here," Guo said, adding that he hopes the younger generation will apply more advanced technology to carry out desert management in a more scientific, automatic and efficient manner.

Success with saxaul

In Alshaa Left Banner, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, former herder Pan Duoyun has discovered that planting saxaul trees, a drought-resistant species, not only gives local farmers and herdsmen an effective tool to combat desertification, but also helps sustain their livelihoods.

"Realizing the severity of desertification, the local government relocated all our herders to the town," said Pan, Party secretary of Bayanwula village in Alshaa. "Although the living conditions seemed to have improved, we were not used to the new environment, and the cost of living was very high. However, we had no choice but to stay, as we could no longer pursue our traditional livelihood of grazing."

In 2012, the 62-year-old planted saxaul in an experimental area spanning 2,000 sq m and later grafted highly valued Cistanche onto them. Cistanche is a traditional herb with adaptogenic properties that may improve brain function, boost immunity, slow aging and treat infertility.

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Pan's experiment proved successful and inspired many herdsmen to return to the village. The subsidies offered by the local government and charitable organizations such as the Society of Entrepreneurs & Ecology Foundation serve as significant incentives, especially considering the relatively lengthy time it takes to yield benefits. The parasitic Cistanche plant reaches its peak medicinal value after growing for three years.

"A one-mu (one-fifteenth of a hectare) field can now yield more than 300 kilograms of Cistanche, with a selling price ranging from 30 to 40 yuan per kilogram," Pan said, adding that other drought-resistant plants are also cultivated locally, fulfilling residents' desire to improve the environment and create wealth in their hometown.

"The field used to feed our flocks and herds, and we are committed to doing our utmost to conserve it," he said.

Contact the writers at limenghan@chinadaily.com.cn