Chifeng model offers insight on land rehabilitation

China's experiences in grassland ecosystem restoration and desertification control, particularly in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, have provided valuable insights for global land rehabilitation and grassland conservation, international experts said at a conference recently held in the city.

Experts highlighted the country's achievements in desertification prevention, related scientific research and the use of technologies such as artificial intelligence and multisource remote sensing.

The three-day event, held last week, brought together experts from China, South Africa, Japan and the Netherlands.

Participants engaged in interdisciplinary and cross-regional dialogue to explore innovative approaches to grassland protection and comprehensive desertification control, seeking to contribute scientific solutions for land degradation management, ecological civilization building and global sustainable development.

The event was jointly organized by Shanghai Jiao Tong University's School of Design, the university's Inner Mongolia Research Institute and the desert scientific exploration committee of the China Association for Scientific Expedition.

Johns Muleso Kharika, a representative of the secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, emphasized the need for the international community to support policymaking backed by scientific evidence. He called for stronger cooperation between the Global North and Global South, as well as among international partners, to advance practical actions in land protection and grassland restoration.

"Effective management of desertification requires integrating ecological restoration with innovation in social mechanisms. The ecological restoration practices in Inner Mongolia and China as a whole can serve as important references for global desert management," said Michael Meadows, former president of the International Geographical Union and an emeritus professor at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

During the event, experts conducted field studies in the Horqin Sandy Land, where they observed innovative sand-control models that combine road construction, sand stabilization and industrial development. They also visited a cold and arid apple and pear breeding base in Chifeng that preserves more than 90 varieties of economic forest resources.

At a newly established cherry experimental field, experts discussed the introduction and collection of superior local varieties with staff members.

The field visits showcased Chifeng's innovative practices in sand control and seed breeding, providing references for regional ecological management and the high-quality development of the forestry and grassland industries, participants said.

Piao Ying, an official in Chifeng, said that despite notable progress, ecological management remains a challenging task for a city located at the junction of the Horqin and Hunshandake sandy lands.

"The city must make better use of technology to safeguard the northern ecological barrier, move from experience-based management to precision-targeted interventions and strive to develop governance models that are replicable and scalable," he said.

Some experts also proposed new governance pathways. Li Xiaosong, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Aerospace Information Research Institute, said large vertical models for sand control could help address issues such as insufficient scientific zoning, weak process supervision and inadequate decision-making support.

"By integrating remote sensing, monitoring, knowledge databases and socioeconomic data, such models can support sand hazard diagnosis, governance plan generation, process supervision and effectiveness evaluation, paving the way for a shift from experience-driven management to precision and intelligent sand-control governance," he said.