The ‘Green Great Wall’ of China: Scientists issue new warning despite 50 years of work to tame desert growth

The vast lattice patterns created across the landscape have become the enduring symbol of China’s decades-long battle against the encroaching desert - (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

For half a century, a monumental human endeavour has unfolded across China’s northern deserts, as millions of workers meticulously insert forearm-length sticks into shifting sands.

Arranged first in rows, then intersecting lines, these gradually form a grid, within which saplings are planted and sustained by an irrigation system.