在沙漠裏種樹 中國希望打造出'綠色長城'

A desert doesn't sound like the most promising place to plant a tree.

沙漠聽上去不像是最理想的種樹之地。

Yet, since 1978, China has planted at least 66 billion of them across its arid northern territories, hoping to transform its sandy steppes and yellow dunes into a Great Green Wall.

但是自1978年以來，我國已在乾旱的北方地區栽種了至少660億棵樹木，希望能將沙質草原和黃色沙丘變成一座“綠色長城”。

The tree-planting strategy is an attempt to fight desertification.

這個植樹造林戰略是爲對抗荒漠化做出的嘗試。

The State Forestry Administration claims the measure has reduced sandstorms by 20%.

國家林業局稱，近年來，這項舉措使沙塵暴減少了20%。

Malaysian-British photographer Ian Teh works throughout Asia, documenting humans' impact on the landscape. Over six days in May 2016, he photographed tree-planting projects in the Gobi Desert in northern China.

馬來西亞裔英國攝影師鄭永仁因爲工作奔波於亞洲各地，記錄人類對景觀造成的影響。在2016年5月的6天中，他拍下了在華北戈壁沙漠中展開的植樹造林項目。

They seemed successful in places like Duolun County, some 322 km north of Beijing, where the government has planted 2.6 million trees over the past 17 years. The place felt pastoral, almost lush.

在位於北京以北約322公里處的多倫縣等地，植樹造林項目似乎取得了成功；在過去17年裏，政府種植了260萬棵樹木。那裏一派田園風光，幾乎可以說是草木茂盛。

Teh had to stop his car on the side of the highway and hike several minutes over dunes just to see where the wind-blown grass ended and the sand began.

鄭永仁不得不將車停在公路邊，徒步走幾分鐘，翻過沙丘，才能看到在風中搖曳的草木與沙地接壤的地方。

"To be honest, it was hard to imagine it was ever a desert at all," he says.

鄭永仁對此表示：“老實說，很難想象這裏曾是一片沙漠。”