By: Annabelle Pan

Graphics Editor

Over the past 80 years, 27.9% of the world’s land has suffered low precipitation and high aridity, fueling desert expansion and land degradation. Desertification most severely affects deserts and drylands in Africa and Asia, as some of the world’s largest deserts expand across these continents. To combat regional expansion, countries have recently explored government projects, like China and Africa’s “Great Green Belts,” and innovative designs, including a tumbleweed sower system.

The Chinese government, in particular, has placed heavy emphasis on combating desertification and environmental pollution across northern China. Their Three-North Shelterbelt Program (TNSP), nicknamed the “Great Green Wall,” aims to increase forest cover by almost 10% over 72 years by planting trees around the Gobi Desert and Taklamakan Desert. Chinese authorities reported that they finished planting a 1,900-mile-long belt of trees around the Taklamakan Desert, the world’s second-largest shifting desert and the largest in China. After the project’s completion, the desert now absorbs more carbon than it releases and experiences more rainfall. However, although planted forests can help combat soil erosion and desertification, researchers fear that such projects can strain scarce water resources and limit ecosystem variation. Chinese officials are also working on desert containment in the Kubuqi Desert by applying different approaches to each section. The project plans to cover the northern section with solar panels before planting desertification control crops in the shade. The United Nations Environment Programme designated the Kubuqi Desert restoration project as a global model for desert containment.

Northern African countries in the Sahel-Sahara region also implemented a “Great Green Wall” from west to east to stop the Sahara Desert’s expansion. The forest of drought-resistant trees, such as acacias, spans 4,970 miles to combat droughts, food shortages, and decreasing natural resources. The project employs indigenous land techniques, not just simple tree-planting, to ensure durability. The ultimate goal is to restore 100 million acres of land by 2030 and absorb millions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Among the many climate-friendly design concepts of 2026, one of the most notable is the Wasteland Nomads: Bionic Tumbleweed Sower System by Yizhuo Guo. The design utilizes principles of passive robotics with no batteries or external power required, and the design is completely biodegradable. Guo, inspired by tumbleweeds, created the device to continuously roll with the desert wind, releasing seeds in favorable conditions. The device leaves no waste or remnants and boosts soil oxygen to combat desertification and aridification. Already, Guo’s design has won the 2025 European Product Design Award and earned recognitions from Chinese design institutions and the iF Design Award in Germany. As climate change continues to change the Earth’s landscape, projects like Guo’s tumbleweed design aim to support ecosystems and biomes in environmentally-friendly ways.

(Sources: ECOnews, FarmSahel, Newsweek, UN, World Economic Forum, Yanko Design)