Land Degradation Action Plan in Inner Mongolia

Abstract

Inner Mongolia has a special geographical location, with little rain and drought. More than two-thirds of the region’s ecological environment is fragile and sensitive. The climate is getting drier and drier. Land and surface vegetation are seriously degraded. Sandstorm disasters are intensifying. Various disasters are frequent. Sandstorm is rampant and the area of land desertification is continuously expanding. The intensification of the ecological crisis has not only caused great losses and serious difficulties to the economic development and people’s lives in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region but also posed a serious ecological threat to the “three northern” regions of our country, especially Beijing, Tianjin, and their surrounding areas. The consequences have seriously affected the development of social, economic, political, and military undertakings in northwest, north, northeast, and even the whole country. Therefore, harnessing and improving the ecological environment; establishing Inner Mongolia’s ecological defense system; achieving sustainable economic, social, and ecological development; and reconstructing beautiful mountains and rivers have become major strategic issues that the country urgently needs to solve. At present, there are various problems in different ecosystems in Inner Mongolia. Among them, grassland degradation, soil erosion, and desertification are the main components of Inner Mongolia’s ecological environment. The formation of ecological environment problems in Inner Mongolia has a profound historical origin and is closely related to the sensitive changes of many modern natural factors and the participation of human activities. Climate change and unreasonable utilization of human resources development are important factors leading to deterioration of ecological environment. According to the current situation of degradation, the possibility of restoration, and the necessity of taking preventive measures to prevent land degradation, the ecosystem of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is listed as a priority. The first thing to be protected is farmland ecosystem, followed by swamp ecosystem, forest ecosystem, meadow ecosystem, grassland ecosystem, and desert ecosystem.