Maowusu Desert: transforming the desert into a lush oasis

By Wang Yiming: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, September 19, 2020

Combo photo shows the changes of vegetation cover on the land contracted by the Shenmu Ecological Association, a non-governmental organization dedicated to control desertification and restore vegetation, in Yulin city, Shaanxi province, respectively in 2005, 2011, 2014, and 2020. Since its establishment in 2003, this non-governmental organization has completed afforestation of 26,666 hectares, turning a barren land with a vegetation cover percentage of 3% into a forest landscape with a vegetation cover of 65%. In 2003, the city of Yulin became a demonstration pilot area for desert control. The Maowusu Desert reaches from Ordos, Inner Mongolia in the south, to Yulin, Shaanxi province, in the north. Yanchi county, Ningxia, lies at its most northeastern point. It covers an area of 42,200 square kilometers. [Photo by Wang Yiming/China.org.cn]