A new wave of anti-desertification projects has been launched in western China as authorities step up efforts to shield farmland from worsening land degradation. 

Last month, the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography began several initiatives focused on sand control, desertification prevention, and tackling wind erosion and soil salinity. According to Chinese media, the programs are intended to strengthen an ecological barrier protecting agricultural land across Xinjiang. 

The region remains a central testing ground for China’s vast “great green wall” campaign, a decades-long effort to stop fertile land from turning into desert under pressure from climate shifts and human activity.

Volcanic rock technology to contain the Taklamakan Desert

The latest Chinese campaign aims to contain the Taklamakan Desert by building a protective green belt around its perimeter, combining drought-resistant vegetation with engineered sand barriers. The desert, the largest in China and among the world’s biggest shifting-sand deserts, has become a major focus of the country’s land restoration strategy.

Part of the latest effort includes introducing six new eco-friendly materials designed to stabilize sand at the desert’s edge. Among them are basalt fiber-based solutions, made from melted volcanic rock, which researchers say can reinforce soil and help limit the spread of dunes into surrounding farmland and infrastructure, the South China Morning Post reported.

The same material now being used in China’s desert-control projects was previously tested during one of the country’s most ambitious lunar missions. In 2024, the Chang’e 6 mission became the first mission to bring back samples from the far side of the moon.

A Chinese flag carried on the mission also marked a first: it was the first national flag placed on the moon’s far side, made from basalt fiber engineered to endure extreme temperature swings and intense ultraviolet radiation. According to Wuhan Textile University, which designed the flag, the material was chosen to preserve its color under harsh lunar conditions. The fiber is produced by heating basalt rock to very high temperatures and drawing the molten material through microscopic nozzles.

China and Russia’s lunar plans overlap with new anti-desert campaign 

China’s push to develop advanced desert-control materials is also feeding into its longer-term space ambitions. China and Russia plan to establish the International Lunar Research Station near the moon’s south pole by 2035, with some of the same material science research supporting both lunar and terrestrial applications.

In Xinjiang, the latest projects are also using fly ash, a waste product from coal-fired plants that can be repurposed into construction materials such as bricks. Chinese researcher Pei Liang said the new materials could raise desertification-control construction efficiency by 50 percent while cutting costs by around 30 percent.

Large parts of Xinjiang are undergoing steady transformation as authorities work to turn desert-affected and saline soils into productive farmland in support of China’s broader food security strategy. The region is among the country’s key agricultural zones, but it faces persistent pressure from wind erosion and soil salinization.

A project led by another Chinese researcher, Xiao Huijie, focuses specifically on mitigating both wind-driven land degradation and salinity buildup in southern Xinjiang, where maintaining soil productivity remains a central challenge for long-term cultivation efforts.