A protected forest strip in desertified lands

A nationwide assessment for desertification found that 76.9 percent of the Mongolian total territory or 120.3 million hectares of land has been affected by desertification.

The assessment, conducted in 2020, said out of the total area, 30 million hectares of the land has been assessed to be strongly desertified.

According to the survey, low rainfall in the Gobi and steppe regions affects 50-95 percent of the total territory of Govisumber, Dornogovi, Dundgovi, Tuv, Umnugovi, Uvurkhangai, Bayankhongor, and Gobi-Altai provinces, which are all affected by desertification and land degradation.

The survey mentioned solutions to reduce desertification, which included the protection from sand movement, the establishment of a protective forest strip, the rehabilitation of Gobi oases, and the creation of mechanical barriers to slow sand movement in 265 hectares of the desertified lands.

The Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism announced the establishment of a protected forest strip this year in the desertified lands. G.Ganzorig, head officer of Forest Research and Development Center at Forest Reproduction and Rehabilitation, said the government will use 30 percent of billion trees for desertification protection as part of a billion-tree planting plan.

The Head of Environmental Tourism Department of Bayankhongor province said his province has signed an agreement to plant 20 million trees by the end of 2030 as part of a national billion tree program.