China's desertification control achievements praised at UNCCD Conference

Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene, Prime Minister of Mongolia, visited the China Pavilion on Monday. He said that he was impressed by the new technologies, such as some AI-related land monitoring and data analysis facilities.

Jia Xiaoxia, deputy director of the Department of Desertification Control of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, who guided Oyun-Erdene around the pavilion, said: "There has been a lot of cooperation with neighboring countries — including Mongolia — in sand control, and we'd love to share our new technology experience in the future."

Orr said that he sensed in the scientific community in China the eagerness to engage. "We need far more scientists that are able to bridge society, science, policy, and practice," he said.

When talking about challenges such as understanding wind erosion and how it contributes to sand and dust storms, modelling and projecting datasets, and the ability to integrate economic data and biophysical data, Orr said that "China has been central to these kinds of analyses, and that's been very positive to the global agenda on addressing land degradation, drought and desertification".