A total of 15.04 million mu (about 0.07 hectares per mu) of desert in Alashan League of north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has been turned into oases since the league was set up in 1980 to the end of July this year, thanks to a series of ecological projects, China News reported on Nov. 26.

Alashan has an area of 270,000 square kilometers. Of that figure, the ecologically vulnerable area occupies 94 percent, while the livable area accounts for only 6 percent.

Since the 1980s, the local ecological environment started to deteriorate due to 20-plus-years of over grazing and warming temperatures, said Liu Hongyi, director at the forestry station of the Alashan Left Banner of the league.

However, since the 21st century, the local government has stepped up efforts to implement ecological projects, including returning farmland to forests and livestock pastures to natural grasslands, as well as natural forest protection projects.

The projects have helped the league turn at least one million mu of desert into oases every year, according to Liu.

Liu added that many tourists across the country like to spend the cool summer in Alashan, as there are no sandstorms in the area anymore.