Mongolia has planted a total of 84 million trees across the country since the launch of its national tree planting campaign in 2021, the country's presidential press office announced on Wednesday.

In October 2021, Mongolia started a nationwide tree-planting campaign called "Billion Trees" following an announcement by President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh at the United Nations General Assembly, where he said the campaign aims to plant at least one billion trees by 2030 to combat desertification.

Since the campaign's implementation, the number and size of trees, saplings, seed resources, and tree nurseries planted and cultivated each year have increased by five to six times compared to the period before the campaign began, the press office reported.

Desertification, exacerbated by climate change, has been a significant factor contributing to the rising frequency of yellow dust storms in Mongolia in recent years, according to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.

Mongolia covers an area of over 1.5 million square kilometers, yet less than 10 percent is currently forested. The ministry reports that nearly 77 percent of the country's territory has been affected by desertification and land degradation.

(Cover: An aerial view of the Eg River in Hantay Bag in the Bulgan province of Mongolia, July 1, 2024. /CFP)