Passing on the secrets of success

As part of China's aid package to developing countries, Gansu province and the Ningxia Hui autonomous region have been providing training courses for foreign officials and scholars on the prevention and control of desertification.

Since 1993, the institute has provided foreign guests with 43 seminars on the prevention and control of desertification, ecological restoration, industrial development, the protection of oases and water conservation, according to Liu Shizeng, director of the Gansu Desert Control Research Institute in Lanzhou, the provincial capital.

Gansu has also launched cooperation programs with more than 20 countries, and established pilot bases in Nigeria, Niger, Egypt, and Mauritania. Ningxia Hui has held training sessions for officials from Arabian countries since 2006. In total, 220 participants from 20 countries have participated in the region's course on combating desertification.

Wen Xuefei, deputy director of the office of desertification prevention and control at the Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, said the most commonly used mechanical barrier to fix sand in Arabian countries was inspired by the wheat straw checkerboards used in Ningxia.

The straw checkerboard barrier, invented by grassroots workers, prevents sand from shifting by the use of straw, weeds and shrubs that are laid on sand dunes before being partially buried. Trees and grasses are then planted within the checkerboard.

"Other countries have also picked up on Ningxia's water-saving technology to plant herbs on sandy land, and Morocco and Algeria plan to introduce 'sand-fixing' plants," Wen said.

Yousaf Jamal, assistant professor of agriculture at the University of Swabi in Pakistan, is currently on a yearlong study program at the research institute.

"Internationally speaking, China's experience of the prevention and control of desertification has deep significance. Pakistan also faces the challenge of desertification, so I will continue my research when I get back to my country. I will bring the practical applications and also the knowledge behind them to my students. I hope these advanced technologies and ideas can be implemented in Pakistan," he said.

Guo Shaoyu contributed to this story.