Desertification is the process whereby tracts of land that were once covered in vegetation are transformed into sand in which it is difficult for plants to grow. A 1991 study by the UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) put the area of land around the world affected by desertification at about 360 million hectares which is equivalent to about one quarter of all land area. The population of people affected is around 900 million or one sixth of the Earth's population. The Horqin area in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China is one of the places suffering from severe desertification.
![[Image] Nature reserve with rich remained greenery](/environment/showcase/employee/ex/horqin/images/005.jpg)
![[Image] Areas of rich greenery remain in nature reserve](/environment/showcase/employee/ex/horqin/images/txt_01.gif)
Despite being surrounded by the Horqin Desert, the Daquinggou Nature Reserve, which has been protected from cultivation and grazing, is covered with old-growth trees of 80 years and older. This is more evidence that the desertification is a man-made phenomenon.
![[Image] Plants at Horqin Desert](/environment/showcase/employee/ex/horqin/images/007.jpg)
![[Image] Man-made desertification](/environment/showcase/employee/ex/horqin/images/txt_02.gif)
The major causes of desertification include "over-grazing by domestic livestock". Goats and sheep graze the grasslands down to the roots and because this excessive cultivation and grazing still continues at pace faster than the natural ability of the land to recover, the vegetation does not return.
In China, the term "shamo" (desert) is used for areas that form naturally due to severe weather conditions such as drying, whereas regions that have turned to desert due to human activity are called "shadi" (sandy land). For this reason the Horqin desert is known locally as the Horqin Shadi.
The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region once had seas and large rivers which have left behind a land layered deeply with accumulated sand. This land was then transformed over a long period of time to grassland. Unfortunately, once this green grassland has been destroyed by activities such as over-grazing, the underlying sandy soil is exposed on the surface where the sand can be blown off by the wind. This process happening over and over again forms sand dunes and the area of desert increases further.
In the area around the Horqin Desert, this is having an effect on people's lives and it is against this background that work has started on halting the encroaching desertification and making the Horqin Desert a green land once again.
![[Image] Driving tractor on the bumpy road covered with sand](/environment/showcase/employee/ex/horqin/images/009.jpg)
![[Image] Horqin Desert Greening Project team gets to work!](/environment/showcase/employee/ex/horqin/images/txt_03.gif)
Because the undulating road covered by the sand is very bumpy, there is a concern that people might inadvertently fall off the tractor tray. However, nobody has fallen off so far.
![[Image] Four-wheel drive vehicle driving in the desert](/environment/showcase/employee/ex/horqin/images/011.jpg)
![[Image] Like driving in a rally race across the desert](/environment/showcase/employee/ex/horqin/images/txt_04.gif)
The only way to reach the interior of the desert is by four-wheel drive vehicle. We leave the road and travel across the trackless land over endless sand dunes.
Internationally, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification was agreed in 1994 as countries from around the world joined together to cooperate on finding solutions to the problem. The Horqin Desert, once a verdant grassland, has the potential to grow vegetation with extensive resources of groundwater that could be used to cultivate plants.
This region of one-time grasslands has an annual rainfall of approximately 400mm.
It is considered that tree growth becomes difficult at annual rainfall levels below 400mm. In extremely arid regions such as the Sahara Desert and Takla Makan Desert where annual rainfall is less than 250mm, it is difficult for any natural vegetation to grow at all.
The Hitachi Group Volunteer Trip to the Desert Greening Project focuses in particular on supporting work on restoring vegetation to areas afflicted by desertification with the aim of restoring the land to its previous state as grassland. The current trip also combined work on planting trees around other plants to protect them from the wind and sand with the opportunity to mingle with the residents of Inner Mongolia.
