Inner Mongolia is always associated with grasslands.

There are many well-known grasslands in the 1.183 million square kilometer region, such as the Hulunbuir grasslands, Horqin grasslands and Xilin Gol grasslands.

A bird's eye view of Xilin Gol grasslands in Inner Monoglia [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The vegetation coverage of the region's grasslands averaged 50 percent in the 1960s, when the grasslands ecology was at its peak.

However, the herding population increased 5.1 times from the 1960s to 2008, while the livestock increased by 2.2 times.Due to overstocking, coal mining, migration and climate change, the vegetation diversity and ecosystems were destroyed, said by Yao Meng, an official from Inner Mongolia's Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry. The vegetation coverage fell to only 30 percent around 2000.

Vegetation planting is carried in Otindog Sandland, Inner Mongolia. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia, was frequently hit by sandstorms around 2000. Data showed that 21 sandstorms hit the city a year at the most. In grazing areas, houses might be buried after sandstorms.

Yao said he had driven across the Kubuqi Desert in 2004, and could see barely vegetation along the road.

Fortunately, several national projects to improve grasslands’ ecology were launched after 2000, including the Beijing-Tianjin sandstorm-control project, and subsidy and incentive funds for grasslands protection.

Subsidy and incentive funds are granted to herdsmen in Inner Mongolia. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

After dozens of years, the grasslands’ vegetation coverage hit 43.6 percent on average in 2014. For example, the grasslands in Ordos increased by over 12 million mu from 2000 to 2010.

In 2012, Yao traveled through Kubuqi Desert again. He saw lush salix psammophila and sand sagebrush, instead of bare sand.

To date, the grasslands cover 1.32 billion mu (88 million hectares) in the region, accounting 22 percent of the total in the country.

A 10,000-mu grassland in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]