transported truckloads of stones and distributed them on the sand. Several agricultural specialists were sent into the villages to teach the farmers how to grow watermelon.

"When it rains, water will be preserved in the soil because it is covered by stones, which allow less evaporation," Ma said, adding that his entire family now relies on the melon crops, because nothing else can be grown in the soil.

The Ningxia government also has turned some of its desert into areas scenic spots to attract tourists. Residents have created recreational programs to specifically draw visitors from neighboring provinces. The Sand Lake and Shapotou (the beginning of the Tengri Desert) are two places of interest in the region.

"Both the Central Government and local government are very supportive of the desert economy," said Wang Delin, Director of the Ningxia Forestry Bureau, adding that the region's efforts to produce fruit and attract tourists require cooperation among various departments. For instance, the region's agricultural department is responsible for teaching farmers how to grow vegetables and other cash crops, while its water conservancy department is in charge of diverting water into villages. The poverty-relief department gives subsidies to the poorest residents, while the science and technology department creates new facilities to make people's lives better.

Despite its accomplishments, the regional government is still aware of the importance of reclaiming more desert areas to prevent further desertification.

"Although we have forced back the desert, we are still challenged by a poor ecological environment and serious desertification," Wang said.

Efforts to Prevent Desertification

Ningxia is surrounded by deserts in three directions-the Tengri Desert in the west, the Ulan Buh Desert in the north and the Mu Us Desert in the east.

First phase (1949-77): Ningxia set up a number of state-owned forestlands at the beginning of the 1950s. Later on, the Chinese Academy of Sciences established experimental bases to prevent desertification in the above-mentioned three areas and started researching how to rein in the ever-expanding deserts. After the 1960s, governments at all levels in Ningxia built a number of tree belts managed by local residents.

Second phase (1978-94): After the reform and opening-up policy was adopted in late 1978, the Central Government launched a nationwide campaign to build shelterbelts in weak ecological areas, which provided guidance for Ningxia's efforts to prevent further desertification. Ningxia began a comprehensive program to stop the Mu Us Desert from spreading by preventing soil and water loss in the province's southern mountain areas and reducing soil salinity in the north. Both the Central Government and the regional government invested more than 3 billion yuan ($439 million) during these 16 years to build a series of large-scale irrigation projects and create more than 200,000 hectares of green coverage. The local government relocated more than 200,000 people living in desert areas to irrigated lands.

Third phase (1995-present): Since the mid-1990s, and especially during the country's 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-05), Ningxia further strengthened its efforts and increased its investment in preventing desertification. More farmlands and grasslands were turned back into forests. The desert areas have been diminishing by 5,000 hectares annually since 1999. The local government has encouraged companies in the province to join in its undertaking. To date, more than 60 companies have invested a total of 1 billion yuan ($146 million) to prevent desertification, with each company capable of managing 100 hectares of desert area. A total of 147,000 households in Ningxia have invested 410 million yuan ($60 million) in the project to reclaim about 40,000 hectares of desert areas.

(Source: Ningxia Forestry Bureau)