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The Times of India
The Times of India
World
TOI World Desk

After a devastating famine, the Soviet Union planted 5,320 km of giant tree belts in 1948, hoping to transform the climate itself. Still, the world's largest forest-engineering experiment was largely abandoned after Stalin's death

After a post-war agricultural disaster, one of the most devastating in Soviet history, the government launched an environmental experiment unlike any attempted elsewhere. The idea behind the plan was that forests could do much more than provide lumber. Planners believed trees could help change the climate, reduce drought and protect the country from famine.

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