The locals revitalising Inner Mongolia’s Kubuqi Desert | This is China

[Music] [Music] alright [Music] [Music] she left school and went to beijing for a higher education but the moment she graduated she returned to her parents this film was shot in the kibbuchi desert and is about the people who live there and are bringing its barren wilderness back to life it's about how by changing the world around them people can change themselves [Music] desert people are different tempered by their way of life which only goes to show that in a battle against the forces of nature humans are usually the weaker china is the world's most populous country and the third biggest in area but vast tracts of that land are taken up by desert including the kabuchi one million 390 000 hectares of dunes dunes and yet more dunes constantly baked by a blistering dry wind um the powerful wind constantly moves giant piles of sand in a process known as desertification which is a massive problem and not just in china but around the world [Music] planting is the most effective way to stabilize the dunes all it takes is a simple garden tool an auger to drill a small hole for a seedling but just as it has been for decades it's still demanding manual work foreign grid lines of grass carefully laid out in the sand the hallmarks of a successful bid to introduce plants and bring the earth back to life inch by inch in time the grass will give way to trees which are even more effective at keeping the sand in place the people who live in the kombucha have tried a wide range of varieties and found that willow poplar and pine are the best at taking root [Music] [Music] keeping the desert at bay and creating jobs in what is not exactly the most developed part of china is thought to have lifted up to a hundred thousand local farmers and livestock breeders out of poverty libourge saw new opportunities in the kibbuchi desert almost twenty years [Music] foreign [Music] at sixteen leigh buche's daughter lee fang went to study in beijing she joined a high school at the south central university for nationalities and studied tourism management at the hong kong polytechnic university she chose the international hotel and restaurant business program and in that course she gained experience in switzerland and foreign [Music] foreign tourism plays a dynamic role in the world's economy and domestic tourism in china is growing rapidly so the kobuchi desert might not seem an obvious choice for a specialist with [Music] going home to take up your first real job means earning your professional credibility from people who knew you as a child every success back in your homeland will be noted but so will every mistake [Music] [Music] foreign the kabuchi desert is 700 kilometers from beijing but those dry heavy and biting winds can easily travel that far in the early 2010s the desert's hot breath began to sear the chinese capital the long battle against the sand needed more effort and the people who had devoted their lives to the cause started to receive government support nature doesn't have to become a victim of economic growth that's one of the tenets of the authority's modern approach to ecology which is characterized by a colorfully typical chinese slogan green hills and clear waters are priceless treasures so it's in the national interest to preserve them [Music] um foreign [Music] the agronomist luciozyn works in greenhouses built on land reclaimed from the kibbuchi desert the first was built in 2007 now there are 43 they create a sense of not so much victory over the desert but of an oasis within it [Music] but [Music] foreign [Music] work on desert reclamation began in 1973 and this oasis is the result of almost half a century of dedicated efforts [Music] [Music] foreign creeks winding through the desert eventually flow into the huanghi china's great yellow river the kobuchi desert doesn't only pose a threat to locals but also impact people who live far away addressing this significant environmental challenge calls for collaboration between enthusiasts businesses and government institutions [Music] [Music] [Music] that means they need to keep cultivating plants that prevent soil erosion and desertification every spring thousands of volunteers come to help with the planting thirty thousand people came here in 2019 even though they had all been warned that many trees would fail to flourish because of the harsh desert climate [Music] [Music] [Music] according to un estimates the measures taken here against desertification are among the world's most successful for almost 50 years locals and volunteers have managed to plant saplings over half of this small desert but more still needs to be done [Music] greenhouse agronomy in the middle of the desert is a whole new profession some of luciozyn's colleagues left after working here for only a short time life in this oasis is no picnic those who can make sense of the desert and themselves are the people who stay [Music] foreign in the early 1970s when things were just getting started no one could have imagined that so many berries and fruits could grow in the desert now it's bananas after two years in a greenhouse the banana trees are planted out in the new natural environment of the kabuchi uh yoga [Music] in winter tourism in the kibbuchi is slow but in summer huge numbers of holidaymakers are drawn to the sand dunes in one of china's smallest deserts [Music] studied tourism administration in beijing and then hong kong the kabucha is her third university where she's gaining practical experience [Music] foreign [Music] in the closing days of lifeang's first summer in charge of the tourist area on a walk around her domain she sees three of her staff smoking in the workplace the recent student immediately her father established the tourist zone in 2010 and now he's handing it over to his daughter it's more than just a change of management it means a new generation leader female bosses are a rarity around here gaining the trust of the people you manage and changing their attitudes is almost harder than holding back the desert [Music] [Music] foreign in her beaten-up old suv lee fang drives her dad to their tourism headquarters he started this business and she carries it on he knows every staff member here and about everything that happens who gets things done who tends to struggle how it all works what needs fixing and most important of all what still has to be done in the desert to further improve his beloved home [Music] [Music] off-road tours there's a lot to entertain the tourists but this ambitious leader has only just begun foreign [Music] this tourist season is coming to an end and the lull offers time to dream and make future business plans sand desert might be a good name for a future tourist complex a tea house summer houses and mongolian yurts scattered around cafes and restaurants promenades with shops selling fine foods foreign [Music] [Music] foreign feel it [Music] if you stop in just the right spot and climb the right dune it might just seem as though you're gazing into the past to where it all began today it's a good [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] in the desert a person can feel as small as a grain of sand but it's also a place where great ideas and plans are born for leigh buche and his daughter lee fang the kabuchi desert is more than just problems and sandstorms it's a part of their lives it's their past present and future the scale of their first victories over the sand can even be seen from space the growth of oases new forests and greenhouses but only by coming here and meeting the people is it truly possible to understand why they love their home so much and appreciate the beauty of this golden sea of sand dunes and the verdant landmark of human [Music] persistence you

Channel: RT Documentary

Views: 178,289

Rating: 4.8404083 out of 5

Keywords: RT Documentary, Documentary Channel, Documentary film, Full Free Documentary, Full Documentary, Free Documentary, Living Desert, The locals revitalising Inner Mongolia’s Kubuqi Desert, Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, China, This is China, Kubuqi desert, desert greening, land restoration, combat desertification, inner mongolia locals, climate change, inner mongolia desert, mongolia desert, impact desertification

Id: E6RznDtPzE8

Length: 26min 17sec (1577 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 18 2021