Earth Day Should Be Everyday

The Kubuqi Desert in Inner Mongolia is an unlikely environmental success story. The sprawling 18,600 square kilometer Kubuqi Desert is the seventh largest desert in China and was once the source of frequent sandstorms hitting Beijing and a place of poverty and environmental degradation.

The Kubuqi Desert was formed over centuries of animal herding and grazing combined with harsh and changing weather conditions. But over the last 30 years Elion Resources Group working alongside the government and locals has actually reversed this trend. In fact they have greened over 30% of the desert and turned formerly degraded land into a fertile green area. This remarkable reversal has changed the lives of the people who live in the region and in the process Elion has developed ‘The Kubuqi Model’, a blueprint for other regions facing similar issues. The lessons learned here can help many regions across Asia, Africa and beyond.

The lessons from the Kubuqi Desert can help areas across the globe.

This past Earth Day 2,000 volunteers descended on the region and planted 6,000 trees. Host Elissa Lansdell documents this remarkable feat and explains why Earth Day should be everyday when it come to improving the environment.

Published by Editorial Team

The Asia Rising Editorial Team is made up of a multinational team of writers, content experts and journalists from around the world operating out of our Bureaus in New York, Bangkok, Toronto and while on assignment across Asia.