Local company helps herdsmen fight sand and poverty

Babu Siren, businessman in Hanggin Banner, Inner Mongolia autonomous region. [Photo by Melanie Peters/For China Daily]

Around 300 government officials, entrepreneurs, economists, scientists and artists from different countries are expected to attend the forum, where Elion will also discuss how it helped save more than 6,000-square-km of land from desertification by growing herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine, building a solar energy unit and constructing 300 km of road in Hanggin.

The herb of choice here is licorice, which thrives in a tough environment. It has stimulated industries to improve the lives of the local people who earn an income through farming the plant and leasing land to grow it. These herbs also help to slow down desertification and gradually transform the desert areas into arable lands.

The "green wall" also acts like a barrier to counter the effects of sandstorms and helps to rehabilitate the land.

Wang Wenbiao, a senior economist and chairman of the board of the Elion Resources Group, was bestowed the honor of Global Dryland Champion by the United Nations in 2013 for the company's work in the desert. Through much adversity, Wang, who was born in Hanggin, realized his dream of defeating poverty and improving the lives of his community.

Wang describes his childhood memories of his hometown in a word "sand". He says changes in the area would not have been possible without government support and people's participation.

Monique Barbut, the executive secretary-general of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, says the rehabilitation of the desert is a model for the global community, and it can balance the ecosystem and the economy.

According to a UN study, parts of Africa and Asia are at similar risk, as are parts of North America.