Authorities in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region plan to build a 1,000-km-long forest belt to protect the region's environment.

The green belt will be 1-2 km wide and sit along the western edge of the Taklimakan desert and the southern edge of the Gurbantunggut desert. It is hoped the wall of trees will halt the two encroaching deserts.

The project is to be complete by the end of 2010.

The Taklimakan desert

The Gurbantunggut desert

(China Daily March 12, 2008)