The Dahekou area of the Mongolica scotch pine afforestation project in Duolun county, Xilin Gol League, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is covered in lush trees on September 10, 2023. Photo: VCG

The Xilin Gol League, recognized as one of the world's four major grasslands, plans to complete the desert control of 2.133 million hectares from 2024 to 2030, the Global Times learned from local authorities on Sunday. The well-known Three-North Shelter Forestation Project has finished the process in 55,867 hectares so far.

In an attempt to demonstrate the importance of combating desertification, the China Trans-century Environmental Protection Inspection Campaign, led by the General Office of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, kicked off in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Thursday.

Xilin Gol League is located in the central part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, directly north of Beijing. It covers an area of 203,000 square kilometers, of which 174,500 square kilometers is grassland, accounting for a quarter of the entire region.

The Hunshandake Sandland runs through the Xilin Gol's territory, covering an area of 3.206 million hectares, which is 83 percent of the League's total area.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Xilin Gol League has been firmly prioritizing ecological and environmental protection, promoting ecological preference and green development, achieving positive results.

To complete the desertification mission, the League established a leadership group, defined the responsibilities of various departments, and included all 13 cities and districts in the comprehensive management of the Hunshandake Sandland for the Three-North Shelter Forestation Project which places forest windbreaks in North, Northwest and Northeast China, the Global Times learned.

It was preliminarily determined that the sixth phase of the project would complete the desert control of 2.133 million hectares from 2024 to 2030. In 2023, the League plans to complete Three-North Shelter Forestation Project desertification combat for 73,000 hectares of the Hunshandake Sandland. Thus far, the process has been completed for 55,867 hectares, the Global Times learned from the administrative office of the Xilin Gol League.

Following strict control and restoration efforts, the vegetation coverage of the League's grassland reached 50.7 percent in 2021, an increase of 5.5 percentage points from the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan, and the area of moving and semi-moving desert decreased by 75,333 hectares.

In terms of supervision and law enforcement, the League was the first to establish a dedicated ecological protection agency. Currently, the League has 431 grassland law enforcement officers and a comprehensive law enforcement supervision mechanism has been established.

Regular inspections are being carried out along with comprehensive law enforcement focusing on grassland protection management and the implementation of grazing balance systems. Through penalties, interviews, accountability, referrals to judicial authorities, and exposure of typical cases, effective deterrence against ecological destruction and illegal behavior has been developed. Since 2012, 2,896 cases of violations have been investigated and dealt with, and 29 were referred to the judicial authorities, the office said.