Restoration and management of the Inner Mongolia grassland require a sustainable strategy.

Land degradation is one of the major environmental problems worldwide and has become particularly severe in recent decades in China, with its rapid economic developments. China has an enormous area of grasslands, covering 41% of its territory (3.93 million km), and grasslands are regarded as among the most important natural resources because of their ecological and economic importance. However, anthropogenic activities have led to large-scale land degradation across the vast Inner Mongolia grassland, the main grassland region of China and part of the Eurasia Steppe that stretches from East China to Hungary. Grassland degradation of this magnitude could alter regional and even global environments, but such degradation can also directly affect the livelihood of millions of people who have lived in the region for generations (1, 2). Inner Mongolia covers an area of 1.1 million km and has a population of 20.3 million. Recent surveys have shown that nearly 90% of the grasslands now are degraded to varying degrees, which is more than twice as much as was estimated 10 years ago (3). On average, current grassland primary productivity is only about 50% of that of the undegraded steppe. The land degradation in this region is generally believed to be a major reason for the increasing frequency of severe sandstorms and dust storms in northern China (particularly in Beijing and adjacent regions) in recent decades (4, 5). Because the environmental and economic future of the Inner Mongolia grassland is at stake, scientifically sound ecosystem management strategies are urgently needed for the sustainability of this region.