Prolonged Drought-associated Forest Fires and Sandstorms in Mongolia and China

Mongolia’s weekly newspaper, The UB Post, reported, “One man died from smoke inhalation while trying to control a forest fire raging in Arkhangai Aimag. Twenty-two others have been hospitalized across the country.” Since 1 August 2002, 119 fires have been recorded in Mongolia, with the most recent reports indicating that 29 fires are still burning. 

A conservative estimate by Mongolian authorities states that up to 30 percent of Mongolia’s forests have been destroyed by fire. The UB Post further reported, “Fires have been contained within the forests and have not spread to the plains, partly because drought conditions in much of the country have already killed off the grass.” A government spokesman explained that, “Troubles start if the fire spreads to the steppe land where the people and livestock live, but since we are experiencing drought, there is no grass that can burn.”

Sandstorm in Northeast Asia, 2002

As a consequence of severe drought in northeast China and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, wildfires that started in July burned for weeks through the Da Hingganling Mountains, where the largest natural forests in China survive. These bush fires started on 27 July and were finally extinguished on 19 August through the round-the-clock efforts of 16,000 fire policemen, foresters and local forest farmers over 23 days. The fires were burning in deep aboriginal forests, 200 km away from transport facilities, and were brought under control by sheer human power. As a gesture of appreciation of the contribution made by the fire-fighters, both the central government and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region government rewarded the “forest fire-fighters” two million RMB Yuan to thank them for their significant achievements in fighting the disastrous fires.

As one form of prolonged drought, yellow sandstorms prevail in both China and Mongolia. In China, as a result of global warming and continuous drought, the frequency of sandstorms is getting higher, the intensity denser, and the threats are growing more serious. The disasters caused by sandstorms can erode soil surface, pollute the atmosphere, and threaten transportation, communication and facilities for production and living. Desertification has brought about a loss of 700,000 farmlands, 2.35 million ha of grassland and steppe and 6.4 million ha of woodland. Furthermore, 24,000 villages have been buried or overwhelmed by shifting sands. The annual economic loss caused by sandstorms and desertification is 54 billion RMB Yuan. Sandstorms promote global warming and environmental degradation. Consequently, people lose the land that feeds us.

Mr Yang Youlin is Assistant Regional Coordinator, Asia Regional Coordination Unit of the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). He can be contacted at youlin.unescap@un.org