Kubuqi Desert Forum convenes for desert control efforts

By He Shan
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, July 29, 2015
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The 5th Kubuqi International Desert Forum is currently underway in Inner Mongolia bringing together about 300 experts on the global battle against desertification.

The main focus is the Kubuqi Action Plan of Global Desertification Control (2015-2025) as a guideline for cooperation among scientists, entrepreneurs, NGOs and civil groups.

As the host, Elion Resources Group has been promoting a sustainable approach to prevent and control desertification over the past 27 years in the Kubuqi Desert, the seventh biggest desert in China and the nearest to Beijing.

China is one of the countries with the largest area of desertification in the world, spanning a total of 4.35 million square kilometers and accounting for 45 percent of the national land area.

To tackle the problem, the government has taken the global lead in creating a Law on Desertification Prevention and Transformation.

Having taken note of the strategic initiatives on the "Belt and Road" proposed by the Chinese government, Elion and the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification launched the greening Silk Road Partnership program last November, aiming to unite business and commonweal partners around the world to plant 1.3 billion trees along the Silk Road in 10 years and create a good ecological environment for the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt.

Elion's long-standing strategy of pursuing a balanced growth for the local ecological protection, economic development and improvement of livelihood has been widely recognized as a model of good practice.

Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary-General of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, spoke highly of the achievements and successes made by the Elion in restoring an area of more than 600,000 hectares of desert to green land through the sustainable business model.

This could be replicated in other deserts across the world, she said.

Desertification is a global issue, posing major environmental and ecological threats to about one-third of the Earth, according to a 2004 United Nations study.

Elion's efforts to combat desertification has set a good example, as it has fostered a string of green industries in the Kubuqi Desert that prove desertification control is financially viable.

John Agyekum Kufuor, former President of the Organization of African Union said the Kubuqi mode was a concentrated approach to combat desertification.

The Kubuqi International Desert Forum has been held five times since its inception in 2007.

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