China's Inner Mongolia to pool 100m yuan for major sandland afforestation

HOHHOT -- North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region plans to invest 100 million yuan (about $14.48 million) of social funds to further improve local biodiversity of the Hunshandake Sandland in the next three years.

Merely 180 km away from Beijing and among China's four major sandy areas, the Hunshandake Sandland has a fragile ecological environment due to natural causes and human activities, with its grassland vegetation coverage decreased, causing frequent dusty and sandstorm weather. In 2018, China initiated a pilot afforestation project in the sandland.

According to the regional forestry and grassland department, all sectors of society, including enterprises, will combine to donate 100 million yuan in the coming three years to support the pilot construction of large-scale forest farms in the sandland.

The social funds will be used for ecological restoration and protection of local forests and grasslands and improvement of desertificated land. The practice is estimated to help inject more vitality into the development of the local forest and grassland industry and increase the income of local farmers and herdsmen, said the department.

Since 2020, over 43 million yuan has been donated to local forest farms, helping to plant 4.8 million trees on a area of 3,000 hectares. The funds also helped to explore modern afforestation technologies including mechanized tree-planting and intelligent monitoring.

After years of ecological preservation and restoration efforts, the region has built a green belt which stretches 420 km long with a width ranging from one to 10 km along the southern edge of the Hunshandake Sandland, which has effectively curbed the spread of the sandy land, the department added.