Straw checkerboards stabilize northern China's dunes for half a century

Green Great Wall campaign spans decades in northern China

For half a century, workers in northern China have inserted forearm-length sticks of straw into shifting sand in intersecting rows to create a grid of squares, then planted saplings at the center of each one. The technique, called “straw checkerboards,” stabilizes sand dunes against wind erosion and helps vegetation take root, according to the Associated Press.

Irrigation systems supply water to help the young plants survive in the dry conditions.

The checkerboard lattice has become the iconic image of China’s “Green Great Wall,” a decades-long campaign to hold back the spreading of desert conditions in northern China.

The Associated Press reported on the technique from the Kubuqi Desert.