Recently, 500,000 replanted psammophytes, including saxaul and tamarisk, have sprouted fresh green shoots along both sides of the Tarim Desert Highway, marking the successful completion of the first large-scale replanting of the highway’s ecological shelterbelt.
The Tarim Desert Highway is the world’s longest graded highway running through a shifting desert and serves as a vital transport link between northern and southern Xinjiang. Since the 436 km shelterbelt was completed along the highway in 2005, sand-binding plants such as saxaul and tamarisk have formed a “green Great Wall,” effectively curbing sand encroachment and keeping the highway safe and open.
However, in recent years, some sections have seen plant degradation and increasing pest and disease pressure. In response, PetroChina Tarim Oilfield Company launched a replanting project during the prime spring planting window in April this year. On the outer and sand-stricken edges of the shelterbelt, the company laid about 1.65 million square meters of straw checkerboards to firmly stabilize shifting dunes. In areas with missing plants, the company pre-wetted sand ridges and followed strict spacing: 80 cm between plants and 1.5 m between rows. The 500,000 tamarisk, saxaul and other seedlings were planted in zones by types, ensuring a sound species composition and vertical structure, and enhancing the ecological diversity and resilience of the forest belt.
Beyond replanting, Tarim Oilfield also partnered with the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, to launch a shelterbelt management project in February this year. The two sides are conducting joint research into sand encroachment mechanisms, pest and disease patterns, and the main causes of plant decline, with plans to apply the findings across the entire highway. The goal is to shift shelterbelt management from “passive response” to “proactive prevention and control,” gradually building an integrated desert ecological management model of nursery cultivation, replanting, maintenance, and research.
Today, the shelterbelt has become an ecological station in the sea of sand. More than one hundred bird species use this green corridor for migration and stopover; hares, sand foxes and other small animals are frequently seen, forming a stable desert ecosystem.