Inner Mongolia’s Hobq Desert creates an oasis of wealth

Photo credit: Demonstration Project of Restoring Sabina and Conserving Biodiversity using TC (TerraCottem) in Abaga Banner, Inner Mongolia, P.R. China  – A project of the TC-Dialogue Foundation, the Association for Sustainable Ecological and Socio-Economic Development in poor Areas of Yenching Alumni, the Government of Abaga Banner, Xilingol League, and the Beijing Afforestation Foundation. – Photo WVC 2005-05

Green Desert

By Alice Grandserre

EXCERPT

An exportable model

According to Gao, the drip irrigation method they use has been borrowed from the Israelis. Elion Resources signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel’s Ben Gurion University last year for jointly establishing the Hobq Desert Research Institute in Inner Mongolia.

The fertile lands of the Sahel—the transitional zone between the arid Sahara Desert of northern Africa and the belt of humid savannas to the south—have been invaded by sand for decades. Afforestation initiatives already exist in the region, like the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel Project, launched by the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall.

Read the full text (marked with highlights): Beijing Review

2005-05 – Demonstration Project of Restoring Sabina and Conserving Biodiversity using TerraCottem (Abaga Banner, Inner Mongolia, P.R. China) – Photo WVC 2005