A media delegation visited the Mu Us Sandy Land in Ordos, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, on Sept 21, exploring how more than seven decades of desertification control have transformed the once-sandy landscape into a green ecosystem.

At the Mu Us Desert Life Community Research Center in Uxin Banner, the delegation learned about the area's ecological transformation through exhibits, sand models, specimens, and an ecological big-data platform.

Uxin Banner, located in the heart of the Mu Us Sandy Land, was once one of the areas most severely affected by wind and sand. Today, the sandy land's overall treatment rate has reached 85 percent, while forest coverage in the banner has risen to 32.92 percent.

Since the latest phase of the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program began in 2024, 10.21 million mu (680,667 hectares) of a planned 11.48 million mu restoration area in Uxin Banner has been treated.

Ordos has also promoted coordinated desertification control across Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Shaanxi, and Gansu autonomous regions and provinces, involving enterprises, cooperatives, and local farmers and herders. Ecological projects have also created work opportunities and supported local incomes.