Spread of deserts in China slowing
Expansion of the China's deserts has been slowed but 11,5000 sq miles of land are vulnerable to being taken over by sand, a forestry official has said.
Zhu Lianke, deputy administrator for the State Forestry Administration, said compared with 2004 the amount of land claimed by deserts and shifting sands has decreased between 2005 and 2009.
China has made big efforts to slow the process but overgrazing, deforestation, land reclamation and drought continue to be big challenges in the country's north and west, Zhu added.