Latest comments posted about Inner Mongolia: reign of sand on ChinaDialogue en-gb http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/1876-Inner-Mongolia-reign-of-sand http://staging.chinadialogue.net/images/cdlogo.gif http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/1876-Inner-Mongolia-reign-of-sand Desertification is a serious issue. I dont really like to put a price on nature. Desertification should not equal $31 billion a year; its priceless. A monetary value puts it into perspective, but in reality, this grassland is becoming unusable desert. China is needing more and more land, at the same time they are destroying it. The Mongolian herders have been sustainable grazing this land for a long time, the government is making a mistake by relocating them. Where were they relocated anyways? To another smaller area that will force herded animals to overgraze. - Chad Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:29:34 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1876#comment-7274 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1876#comment-7274 The desert is nearing Beijing. I t is only several hundred miles from the perimeter of the city, and some small number of years from claiming it. It is agriculture that tends to ruin fertile land, due to unsustainable farming practices (and not nomadic grazing). Beijing, and the rural areas surrounding China's other major cities are in trouble for this reason. Farming produces more food (grains) than grazing, which produces meat. China's food scarcity problem will compel crop production over meat production. As the rural areas surrounding major cities are devoted to growing food, over time, if sustainable farming methods are not used, this practice will accelerate the desertification of land surrounding metropolitan areas. It is not only Beijing that is in trouble. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:48:38 -0400 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1876#comment-7290 http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/summary/1876#comment-7290