by Matteo Cavallito<\/p>\n
For nearly half a century, China<\/strong> has transformed its northern territory into one of the largest reforestation<\/strong> experiments on the planet. Launched as early as 1978<\/a>, the national Three-North Shelterbelt Program, also known as the Great Green Wall<\/em>, has led to the planting of around 66 billion trees<\/strong> to combat the expansion of the Gobi Desert, reduce sandstorms and increase forest cover. What was not yet known, however, was that in many of these areas, planted forests were showing a faster increase in leaf area<\/strong> than nearby natural forests.<\/p>\n