The Great Green Wall of China

The Green Wall of China is a barrier composed of trees, shrubs, and grass that was built in inner Mongolia to block off the Gobi desert and to diffuse sandstorms that were blowing over northeast Asia and into the United States.

The Green Wall was initiated in 1978 and is proposed to stretch 4,480 kilometers to protect cities and cropland from floods and desert. The desert was heading South East at a rate of 3 kilometers a year, straight towards Beijing in 2008 (the year of the Olympics). Millions of trees were planted in 2007 in preparation for the event which seemed to temporarily diffuse the situation, however the roots of the problem is the overpopulation and unsustainable development in Asia.

If the plan is completed accordingly, by 2050 trees will cover 42% of China's landmass.  This will create the largest 'man-made carbon sponge' on the planet, a mitigation approach to decreasing carbon emissions.

The Chinese government are tightening logging restrictions to ensure that they meet this target and is increasing reforestation efforts through aerial seeding of remote areas. The deforestation and logging of forests in China is what led to the sandstorms in the first place, which is why it is important that the government enforce policies to adapt to the problem rather than mitigate, which should in turn stop deforestation.

This video explains the deforestation and potential adverse economic effects:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2009/mar/11/green-wall-forest-logging

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/06/living_green_wall.php
http://www.planetizen.com/node/25141