The total area of desert and sandy land in the Inner Mongolian autonomous region started to shrink in 2004, and has now been in reduction momentum for 15 years, according to the region’s fifth monitoring survey of desert and sandy land.
The reductions by 416,667 hectares of desert land and 343,333 hectares of sandy land rank top in China, which indicates that deterioration of ecological conditions has effectively been halted. 

Inner Mongolia has some of the most concentrated desert and sandy land in China, and is adversely affected by them. As the only province included in all six major forestry projects, it is a leader in ecological conservation. 

With an intense focus and an insistence on involvement of its entire society, Inner Mongolia has made remarkable achievements in combating desertification.

Currently, nearly two thirds of farmland in Inner Mongolia is protected by shelter belts, ten million hectares of key protective grassland is shielded by forests, 17.3 million hectares of land affected by sandstorms and ten million hectares of soil and water loss areas are under control, and 180 million tons of silt that would otherwise flow into the Yellow River is eliminated every year. 

The desert spread in the key areas surrounding the five biggest deserts in Inner Mongolia has been restrained and those areas are maintaining stability. 

Moreover, the percentage of the forestry and grass coverage in the five deserts has increased as the desert has shrunk. Soil loss has also decreased. All the changes are evidence of improvement in the ecological environment of the controlled region.