Mongolians. Clearly, adults are benefitting in the form of employment and higher standards of
living, while the future of children and the less educated are also more promising as a result of
the $146 million contributed by Rio Tinto towards schools and training programs. Thanks to all
these industrial activities and foreign direct investments, Mongolia achieved the world’s fastest
economic growth in 2011. To reach its target of tripling its economy by 2020, Mongolia has even
more ambitious plans to become a major player in the production of shale gas, which has known
deposits in the Gobi Desert.
With rising prosperity, Mongolia has become particularly appealing as a tourist destination,
particularly for the desert region. The Gobi tourism industry has developed rapidly, with hotels,
resorts, and other supporting facilities springing up here and there. More local tour agencies are
appearing, and more tourists are arriving to have a taste of the ‘romantic’ desert life. On July
the 19th 2013, a luxury hotel ‘floating’ on the sand in the middle of the Gobi Desert opened
for business. Visitors can slide down 110-meter-high sand hills which are angled at 45 degrees.
As visitors enjoy the adventure, a loud roaring or booming sound can be heard, giving the
phenomenon the well-known name of ‘singing sands.’ Overnight, the desert was transformed into
a giant theme park. Of course, in the name of luxury, these hotels must have all the indulging
facilities, such as a large swimming pool, a gym, a spa, and round-the-clock air conditioning,
that any other high-end hotels around the world would have, and more. As more people enjoy the
Gobi, grander construction projects are on the drawing board; more events, such as marathons
and endurance races will be set up in the Gobi to promote the desert and attract even more
visitors. With Xinjiang’s first high speed railway, a new 1776km line crosses a vast expanse of
Gobi Desert will begin operation in 2014, giving tourists easier access in and out of the Gobi. This
certainly sounds like another economic miracle for Mongolia and the Gobi Desert.
Despite all the global attention Mongolia is attracting, all is not well in this once-isolated
small country with an image of blue skies, happy nomads, and freely-roaming cattle and sheep.
Negative ecological consequences are rearing their ugly heads as a result of all the human
activities in the Gobi Desert. The extensive drilling and mining has caused massive amounts
of sand to be trapped in the atmosphere; hence sandstorms are happening more often, bringing
with them more sand than ever before. China is also a key victim of the process, with Beijing
experiencing some of the worst sandstorms in history in recent years, rendering the sky a toxic
concoction of smog and dust and visibility zero. As mentioned earlier, desertification is occurring
at an alarming rate in the Gobi Desert. Underground water is depleted. Overgrazing has destroyed
the biodiversity of the land. Plants and animals are dying or displaced, leaving many species
special to the Gobi on the verge of extinction. Years of deforestation means there are insufficient
trees acting as a barrier to prevent the sandstorms from travelling far and the Gobi from
spreading. It is important to recognize that all these events are closely intertwined. Desertification
occurs when an area is left bare and exposed to the great desert itself. The booming tourism
industry described earlier is placing even more pressures on the fragile environment. A vicious
cycle ensues and the whole ecosystem becomes unsustainable.
Luckily, the destruction has not gone unnoticed. Years ago, China initiated a project known
as the Green Wall of China in the hope of halting the advance of the desert. The goal is to plant a
4,480 km shelterbelt of trees across the border of the great desert in two phases. The first phase of
the 73-year afforestation program came to an end in 2001. Since then, international experts have
been carefully studying the effectiveness of the ‘wall’ in slowing the migration of the Gobi. Phase
