The Fifth Hobq International Desert Forum, held at the end of July, saw Zhang Jianlong, head of China's State Forestry Administration, outlining the strategies China has taken to tackle desertification over the last 40 years.

Officials, captains of industry, and experts from China and abroad met in Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region in north China, to discuss how to prevent land degradation, sustain local livelihood and promote economic development at an event that has become an annual platform since it started in 2007.

The Hobq Desert is China's seventh largest desert, sprawling over 18,600 square km in Inner Mongolia.

Wang Wenbiao, 56, has always had a deep awareness of the curse of desertification, being born in a desert region himself. "I always tell people that where there is desert, there's poverty, and when there is poverty, there is desert," he said. In 1988, Wang took the helm of the Elion Resources Group, one of the top private enterprises in China, and began specializing in desert-based green economy, green infrastructure construction and ecotourism. Since then, Elion has carried out projects based on the "Hobq model."

The Hobq model involves desert afforestation and developing sand industry by using desert resources supported by technology innovation to improve people's livelihoods.

In the Hobq area alone, the livelihoods of over 100,000 farmers and herdsmen have been improved, and degraded land rehabilitated.

Zhang Xiwang, a 44-year-old farmer, has been planting desert willow for more than 10 years. It is an indigenous species that is drought-resistant and economically efficient. "We are trying to control the expansion of sand," Zhang said. "Our team can cover 66.7 hectares every year."

Elion has diversified its activities in Hobq, developing not only a vibrant herbal medicine sector, but also biomass together with solar and wind energy.  

Green belt of development

After Chinese President Xi Jinping outlined the Silk Road Economic Belt Initiative in 2013 to integrate trade and investment in Asia, Europe and Africa, Elion began the greening Silk Road partnership program. The aim is to plant 1.3 billion trees along the Silk Road within 10 years.

At the Hobq forum, Wan Gang, Minister of Science and Technology, hammered home the message that sustainable, green development was crucial. A more sustainable approach to economic development was needed to avoid repeating past errors.

"Some 30 years ago, we took the lead in public-private partnerships," added Wang Wenbiao. "A combination of government support, individual land lease and private business initiative made the desert greener, companies stronger and farmers richer."

Replicating the Hobq miracle

In her address, Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), raised the issue of replicating the Hobq model on a larger scale. "We need vision certainly, we need flagship projects […] that inspire and engage," Barbut said.  

Mohamed Moussa, a researcher at the Institute of Arid Regions in Tunisia, said education was essential to fight desertification. "We need to raise awareness on the issue of desertification at a very young age," he said.

Kristina Toderich, a scientist at the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, insisted on a hands-on approach to helping farmers in desert areas. "This is why the private sector is so important," she said.

David Gallacher, an assistant professor at the Zayed University in Dubai, exclaimed at the "wonderfulness of having a green desert" in Hobq. However, he questioned its sustainability, expressing doubts about whether the Hobq model could be replicated.

With the clock ticking and the desert advancing, Hobq has given a fresh impetus to a more sustainable afforestation approach which should be emulated in similar ecosystems in China and along the Silk Road.