Women at helm of green transition

Sustained livelihoods

Decades of trailblazing work by female ecological pioneers has laid the groundwork for Ordos' modern desert transformation, turning a once desperate fight against expanding sand dunes into a thriving, sustainable regional economy. The city's historic shift from "sand advancing on people" to "green advancing on sand" encapsulates a nationwide evolution in China's desert management strategy.

Early restoration efforts centered on survival: urgent tree-planting campaigns designed solely to halt destructive dune movement. Today's desert development builds on a forward-thinking desert-industry framework first proposed by prominent aerospace scientist Qian Xuesen. The model prioritizes maximum solar utilization, minimal water consumption, innovative agricultural technology and tangible economic gains.

These core principles have been handed down across generations of ecological researchers, including Liu Shu — the 91-year-old mentor of agronomist Liu Xueqin.

The principles have become cemented in a core local philosophy that ecological restoration cannot succeed long-term without paired, income-generating industry for residents.

Grassroots female entrepreneurs have turned this institutional framework into on-the-ground community change. Among them is Liu Haiyan, who launched a successful baby pumpkin farming business after overcoming severe family hardships. She invested a borrowed 1,000 yuan ($149) to research viable desert crops, banking on Ordos' dramatic day-night temperature swings — a unique climate trait that boosts crop sugar content and fruit quality.

Early growing trials led to financial losses for partner farmers, but Liu Haiyan revised her cultivation techniques and persisted. Her mettle paid off, and her supply network now stretches from Inner Mongolia to South China's Guangdong province, creating hundreds of seasonal jobs, most filled by women.

"The earth will not treat you better or worse simply because you are a woman," Liu Haiyan said. "What you sow in spring determines what you harvest in autumn."

The Ordos women's federation, which has supported many of these initiatives, said it would continue encouraging women to join the workforce by offering training and helping them start their own businesses, while rallying women in local communities to pursue greener, more sustainable growth.

Satellite imagery vividly documents Engebei's dramatic turnaround. Once-shifting, barren dunes are now anchored by stable, continuous green cover. The demonstration zone boasts 78 percent vegetation coverage and 41 percent forest coverage, supporting more than 600 recorded plant and animal species.

Greenhouses and a desert science museum are also attracting visits from tourists and student educational groups, expanding the region's ecological and public outreach impact.

"Desert plants have taken root and thrived amid adversity, facing always toward the sunlight," said Liu Xueqin, reflecting on the region's decades-long journey.

lilei@chinadaily.com.cn