China Daily

Dunes and developmen­t

- By ZHENG JINRAN zhengjinra­n@chinadaily.com.cn

After spending two decades planting trees in the Kubuqi Desert in Northwest China, Wang We nb iao has led his company overseas to reclaim land in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Wang, president of the China Elion Resources Group, plans to turn the five major deserts in Pakistan, including the Cholistan and Th al deserts, into oases by introducin­g ecological systems and environmen­tal infrastruc­tures.

The company’s techniques reclaim land by promoting vegetative cover, planting forests, controllin­g desertific­ation and developing weather-resistant cultivable land. Meanwhile, the living standards of local residents are improved via cattle-breeding, herb cultivatio­n and tourism.

“These are the successful experience­s summarized in our practices in the Kubuqi Desert in the past 29 years,” Wang said. “Currently, we are approachin­g the authoritie­s to make plans to promote ‘green’ projects in countries such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.”

Since 1988, Wang has led the company’ s anti desertific­ation projects in the Kubuqi Desert — the seventh-largest in China — in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. As a result, more than 6,000 square kilometers, or about one-third, of the desert is now “green” again.

In nearly three decades, the company has treated ecological restoratio­n as an industry, which has brought many business opportunit­ies, he said, noting that an eco-city has been developed in a previously barren wasteland via industries such as desert tourism, herb cultivatio­n and photo voltaic power generation, which are worth a combined 30 billion yuan ($4.3 billion).

The success of the company’s operations has provided funding for desertific­ation-control efforts in the Kubuqi Desert, fueling the growth of the economy, society and ecology, he said.

Since 2013, China has been promoting the Belt and Road Initiative, whose routes are scattered across 60 countries, 36 of which face the risk of desertific­ation, according to a proposal Wang recently put to the Chinese People’s Political Consultati­ve Conference. For example, more than 1,300 km of the 3,000-km China-Pakistan Economic Corridor runs through both a cold plateau and desert regions.

“It’s time for us, the entreprene­urs,to support calls from the central government by doing the things we are good at,” he said. “Our successful models have helped to promote best practices for ecological restoratio­n, and we are keen these are now shared with other developing countries struggling with encroachin­g sand along the routes of theBelt and Road Initiative.”

Many internatio­nal organizati­ons, including the UN Environmen­t Program, have listed a number of desertific­ation protection methods created and adopted by Elion Resources in the Kubuqi Desert as effective global examples, according to the Kubuqi Action Plan of Global Desertific­ation Control (2015-25), which is supported by the World Bank and other groups.

“We hope we can do more to help countries along the Belt and Road initiative,” Wang said.

 ?? GE JUN / FOR CHINA DAILY ?? Tourists ride camels in the Kubuqi Desert.
GE JUN / FOR CHINA DAILY Tourists ride camels in the Kubuqi Desert.
 ??  ?? Wang Wenbiao
Wang Wenbiao

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