The prominent news organization The Guardian published a series of photos at the Million Tree Project's site in Inner Mongolia, showing firsthand the devastating consequences of desertification.
See all of the photos with captions here.
Local farmer Chen Guo Fen holds her daughter as they look around at their field in Kunlun Qi, where volunteers from NGO Shanghai Roots and Shoots are helping to plant tree saplings. (Photograph: How Hwee Young/EPA)
Mongolian ethnic minority farmer Mrs Gao carries poplar tree saplings for planting. Poplars are chosen because they are drought-hardy and effective at storing carbon, as well as being suitable for the local soil and climate. (Photograph: How Hwee Young/EPA)
Volunteers from Shanghai Roots and Shoots dig holes for tree saplings. They help local farmers plant trees on plots allocated by the government, where the farmers are licensed to harvest the trees that have reached maturity, but only if they replant on the same plot. (Photograph: How Hwee Young/EPA)
A Mongolian ethnic minority farmer with her child on a farm in Kunlun Qi. Desertification also threatens communities in several other provinces in China. (Photograph: How Hwee Young/EPA)
Mrs Gao digs holes in trenches to plant tree saplings. Other steps to stop land degradation include moving nomadic Mongolians from grasslands to urban areas and restricting grazing. (Photograph: How Hwee Young/EPA)