CHINA-INNER MONGOLIA-TONGLIAO-SAND PREVENTION (CN)

(230803) -- TONGLIAO, Aug. 3, 2023 (Xinhua) -- Bai Shun (R) boils water at his house in Bulteger Gacha, Horqin Left Wing Rear Banner of Tongliao City, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 2, 2023. Locating in the center of the Horqin Sandy Land, Bulteger Gacha, a small village in Horqin Left Wing Rear Banner of Tongliao City, used to suffer from desertification. Since 2002, Bai Shun, a local Mongolian farmer, has led his family take root in this village and devote themselves to the control of desertification. The survival rate of planted trees was low at the beginning due to lack of experience and fund. In order to improve the survival rate, Bai Shun sold his possessions to raise money and made every effort in raising saplings, pulling fences, planting sand-fixing grass, patrolling and consulting experts. With continuous hard work of Bai Shun's family, the sandy land gradually disappeared. In the past 20 years, 1,200 mu (about 80 hectares) of sandy land has been turned into forests, and hundr