China shares decades of anti-desertification experience at intl forum

HOHHOT -- China will share its experience in using big data to combat desertification as part of global efforts to achieve zero net land degradation, according to an initiative unveiled at the 10th Kubuqi International Desert Forum on Wednesday.

The Global Desertification Monitoring and Digital Governance Initiative was jointly launched by the China International Research Center for Big Data on Sustainable Development, the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) at the forum.

"This initiative aims to enhance the global capacity for monitoring, assessing and making governance toward achieving zero land degradation growth by sharing China's experience in big data application," said Jia Xiaoxia, deputy director of the desertification control department of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

"The Kubuqi model teaches us a fundamental truth. When we restore our land, we restore human dignity. It means jobs -- over 100,000 of them. It means new industries that sustain families. It means communities that no longer see the desert as an adversary but as a partner in their future," said Yasmine Fouad, executive secretary of UNCCD.

Situated in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, the Kubuqi Desert is China's seventh-largest desert. About 30 years ago, the desert was dubbed a "sea of death" even for birds.

Through decades of greening efforts, China has treated 40 percent of the 14,100-square-kilometer desert with desertification control measures. These initiatives have also helped lift more than 100,000 people out of poverty.

In 2015, the Kubuqi afforestation community won the Champions of the Earth award, the highest environmental honor of the United Nations.

Since its inception in 2007 in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, the Kubuqi International Desert Forum has been a major international forum dedicated to the prevention and control of global desertification. Over the years, it has evolved into a crucial platform for nations to exchange experiences in combating desertification and to drive progress in the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Speaking at the forum, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, deputy executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said that UNEP is pleased to see the Kubuqi model recognized as a global public good and it is already guiding desertification control efforts in Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

Since its establishment in 2021, the China International Research Center for Big Data on Sustainable Development has developed an online big data tool to support "zero growth of land degradation" initiatives in key regions, including countries in Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and Mongolia.