The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) announced on Tuesday, or the 45th Earth Day, that China's Kubuqi Desert is an ecological economy demonstration zone. Researchers will evaluate the desert's ecology and try to spread successful desert control initiatives to other countries, said Gemma Shepherd, a program officer with the UNEP. The ecological improvement of Kubuqi is an example for other desert areas, she said. Covering 1.45 million hectares in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Kubuqi is the country's seventh biggest desert. Twenty years ago, the barren and sandstorm-stricken desert had no roads, no vegetation and no means of transportation. Over 100,000 residents lived there, suffering through sandstorms and drought. With support of the local government and enterprises, a "marketization, industrialization and public welfare-based" strategy for desert control was explored, and the Kubuqi Desert is expected to become a green oasis. Deserts cover nearly 40 million square kilometers of Earth, accounting for a quarter of its land surface. More than 110 countries and about 1 billion people around the world have been affected by desertification