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| Aerial photo taken on Aug. 17, 2017 shows mulberry trees (L) planted on the desert in Jinghe County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Jinghe County has carried out shelter forests program at the north edge of the desert since 2013, and nearly 20,000 mu (1,300 hectares) mulberry trees have been planted. [Photo/Xinhua] |
![Aerial photo taken on Aug. 17, 2017 shows mulberry trees (L) planted on the desert in Jinghe County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Jinghe County has carried out shelter forests program at the north edge of the desert since 2013, and nearly 20,000 mu (1,300 hectares) mulberry trees have been planted. [Photo/Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20170911/b8aeed9904561b209c5808.jpg "Aerial photo taken on Aug. 17, 2017 shows mulberry trees (L) planted on the desert in Jinghe County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Jinghe County has carried out shelter forests program at the north edge of the desert since 2013, and nearly 20,000 mu (1,300 hectares) mulberry trees have been planted. [Photo/Xinhua]")
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Deputy Executive Secretary Pradeep Monga complimented China and the Chinese government in taking a leadership role and setting a very good example in the combat against desertification, in an interview with Xinhua.
Monga made the remarks in the UNCCD headquarters based in the German city Bonn in the lead up to the 13th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 13) to the UNCCD which kicked off Wednesday in the city of Ordos, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China.
The UNCCD official believed that by hosting the COP 13, China and Chinese government has shown leadership, and besides, China has taken various successful initiatives in preventing and controlling desertification.
Among those initiatives, Monga was most impressed by a private sector model led by China's energy company Elion in carrying out land restoration experiment in Kubuqi desert, Inner Mongolia. "I could witness greening the desert is happening. Seeing is believing," Monga said.
Monga also commended the use of biotechnologies such as mycorrhiza, or juncao technology, in combating desertification in China, saying it is an eco-innovation and also an affordable way of preventing and controlling land degradation.
Government support to make all these things happen as well as a legal and institutional framework are also the keys to China's success in this field, Monga told Xinhua.
"China has shown business model works and private sector model can be successful, before that we need laws in place and policies," he said. China is among the earliest countries to set up a legal framework on the prevention and control of desertification.
Monga believed China showed a good example "on both the legal side and on the implementation side to showcase to all countries in the world that desertification can be arrested and combating desertification can lead to multiple economic, social and environmental benefits."