Saplings planted in straw squares are the weapon in the fight against the desert on China's western frontiers. Photo: Ananth Krishnan
Two local Hui women take a break from their 12-hour shifts of planting straw squares on the desert to hold the sand down. They earn between 60 and 80 yuan every day (Rs. 420 and Rs. 560) and are paid for every square they plant. Photo: Ananth Krishnan
More than 57 per cent of Ningxia's land is desert-land, and around 65 per cent of its desert areas are still growing. Photo: Ananth Krishnan
Locals say the region's rapid and often unregulated development, coupled with overgrazing and changing rainfall patterns, have increased the rate of desertification in many parts of Ningxia. Photo: Ananth Krishnan
Wang Youde, a farmer who has been leading the fight in the western desert. Photo: Ananth Krishnan
Wang Youde's simple but effective method of planting straw squares in the sand to hold it down and grow saplings in the squares has been adopted. Photo: Ananth Krishnan
As a result of unregulated growth, the Ningxia government has faced a growing problem of having to relocate hundreds of villages that have been left with wasteland. Photo: Ananth Krishnan
Since 1999, the government has spent 232 billion yuan (around $33 billion) on afforestation, according to the State Forestry Administration (SFA). Photo: Ananth Krishnan
The creeping boundaries of the desert surrounding the city of Dunhuang, in neighbouring Gansu province, which faces a similar problem like Ningxia. Photo: Ananth Krishnan
Can China contain the spreading environmental crisis that is unfolding across its landscape? Photo: Ananth Krishnan
