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

China planted trees the Taklamakan Desert for nearly 50 years. Satellites now show the landscape is capturing more carbon than it releases

Taklamakan China the Taklamakan Desert Environment

For decades, the Taklamakan Desert has stood as one of the harshest landscapes in Asia. Stretching across China's Xinjiang region, it is defined by vast sand dunes, sparse rainfall and conditions that leave little room for plant life. Yet the edges of this immense desert have been changing slowly, almost quietly. Rows of shelter forests, shrubs and restored vegetation have gradually spread across areas once dominated by bare sand. What began as an ambitious effort to slow desert expansion has developed into something with wider environmental significance.

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