Afforestation is underway in the heart of Mu Us Sandy Land. [Photo/Nuan News]

In the heart of the Mu Us Sandy Land – a key battlefield in the Yellow River "Great Bend" ecological campaign – winter has not slowed the pace of desertification control in Uxin Banner, Ordos, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Taking advantage of the winter farming off-season and favorable soil moisture before the deep freeze, Uxin Banner is pushing ahead with its latest round of afforestation.

More than 50 construction teams and over 300 workers, supervisors, and technicians are spread across multiple sites. Sand-willow grid barriers stretch across dunes, while saltbush and caragana seedlings take root, powering a winter greening effort.

The banner applies targeted strategies based on sand conditions. For mobile dunes, vertical sand barriers combined with mixed forests of trees and shrubs anchor shifting sands.

For fixed and semi-fixed dunes, flat sand barriers with shrub-grass mixes stabilize surfaces.

Mu Us Sandy Land is planted with saultbush. [Photo/Nuan News]

For low-lying flats, reseeding shrubs and grasses alongside enclosure-based protection supports natural restoration.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), Uxin Banner has invested more than 3 billion yuan ($422.54 million) in forestry and grassland projects, including the Three-North Forest Shelterbelt and natural forest protection programs. Ecological restoration has been completed on a total of 6.36 million mu (424,000 hectares), raising forest coverage to 32.92 percent and vegetation coverage to over 80 percent.

Since 2021, more than 128,600 farmers and herders have been engaged in desert-control efforts, ensuring that ecological dividends benefit local households and advancing environmental, economic, and social gains under the Three-North Forest Shelterbelt Program.

From a forest coverage rate of just 2.6 percent in the 1950s to becoming a "National Garden County" and national model zone for desertification control, Uxin Banner has achieved a remarkable transformation after seven decades of perseverance – from sand-ridden wasteland to thriving oasis.

Mu Us Sandy Land is planted with saultbush. [Photo/Nuan News]