This spring, employees from Sichuan Changjiang Forestation Group planted 6 million saplings of various kinds in Gulin county for water conservation and rocky desertification control in the Chishui River area in Sichuan province of Southwest China.

Rocky desertification is a process of land degradation in karst topography, also known as a kind of "Earth cancer". Rocky desertification land covers 449,300 hectares in Sichuan province, mostly concentrated in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, Luzhou city and other areas. The Chishui River area in Sichuan has grappled with karst rocky desertification with severe soil erosion and a fragile ecosystem.

Gulin, a county in Luzhou, has fought rocky desertification for over a decade. Since 2023, 15 villages and towns in Gulin county have taken measures for ecosystem improvement in the local Chishui River basin, highlighting forest ecosystem restoration, especially rehabilitation of degraded forests which aims to improve forest quality and water conservation capacity in the upper and middle reaches of Chishui River basin.