China Proposes Establishment of ‘International Grassland Day’ at COP17
Dragon Media News Desk
China has proposed the establishment of an “International Grassland Day” at the 17th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, or COP17.
At the conference, which opened in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Monday, China also pledged to share its experience in combating desertification, restoring grasslands, applying scientific and technological innovation, and improving local livelihoods alongside environmental protection.
Held under the theme “Restoring Land, Restoring Hope,” the conference will continue until August 28 and brings together representatives of 197 parties to the convention, along with UN agencies, international organisations, research institutions, businesses, Indigenous communities, pastoralists and other stakeholders.
Discussions at COP17 are focusing on reducing land degradation, sustainable land management, drought resilience, grassland conservation, water resources, food systems and the livelihoods of pastoral communities.
The Chinese delegation proposed International Grassland Day as a long-term legacy of the United Nations International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026. China said the initiative could help sustain global cooperation on grassland conservation and restoration beyond the designated year.
According to China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the country is presenting its experience in science-based desertification control, grassland restoration, technological innovation and approaches that link ecological protection with livelihood development.
China is also highlighting regional cooperation on desertification control through China-Arab States, China-Mongolia and China-Central Asia mechanisms.
Chinese data indicate that desertified land accounts for around one-quarter of the country’s total territory. After more than five decades of sustained efforts, China says both desertified and sandy land areas are continuing to decline, while 53 percent of treatable sandy land has been effectively restored.
Over the past five years, China has completed land-greening projects covering 36.6 million hectares. Its forest coverage rate has risen to more than 25 percent, while China says it has contributed around 25 percent of the world’s newly added green areas.
China also says it has achieved zero growth in land degradation and entered a phase in which both desertified and sandy land areas are declining.
As part of its international cooperation efforts, China has established the China-Mongolia Desertification Prevention and Control Cooperation Center, the China-Arab International Research Center for Drought, Desertification and Land Degradation, and the China-Central Asia Desertification Prevention and Control Cooperation Center.
Its international engagement ranges from supplying drought-resistant saplings for Mongolia’s “Billion Trees” campaign to sharing desertification-control technologies and expertise with countries in Africa and the Arab region.
China has also set up a “China Corner” at COP17 to showcase its approaches to desertification control, grassland restoration, technological innovation, equipment and livelihood development linked to ecological conservation.
As land degradation, drought and desertification intensify in many parts of the world, COP17 is seeking to frame land restoration and grassland conservation not only as environmental priorities, but also as issues closely connected with food security, water resources, livelihoods and long-term development.
