The main characteristics of the Naiman site are summarised hereafter:

Site name	Naiman County
Information Providers	Changyao WANG Institute of Remote Sensing Application Chinese Academy of Sciences Xueyong Zhao Naiman Desertification Research Station Chinese Academy of Sciences
Site location
Location	N 40º 55~52" - E 20º 42~48"
Province	Inner Mongolia
Region	Tongliao
Country	China
General conditions
Altitude range	110-790 m (a.s.l)
Climate	Average precipitation (spatial range, mm/y): 350-500 Average temperature (spatial range °C/y): 6.4°C
Topography	Flat 10%, gentle 60%, rough 30%
Rock type	Sand and Granite
Land cover	29.4% of natural / planted forest, 52.3% of shrub land and grassland, 12.8% of agricultural areas
Land Use	Cropland 20%, woodland 23%, grassland 50%, others 7%
Land condition	Approx. 12% of very degraded and 45% of little degraded land
Local contacts	Inner-Mongolia University Inner-Mongolia University of Agriculture Sciences Tongliao Minorities University Tongliao Science and Technology Office Naiman Desertification Research Station, Chinese Academy of Sciences Inner-Mongolia Grassland Research Station, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Appraisal
Of what the site is representative in your context?	This site is a typical agro-pastoral interlocked area with the gradual invasion of cropland into grassland from the southeast to the northwest of China. In fact it has very significant eco-environment vulnerability, degraded vegetation in rangeland, intensification of agricultural use in plain areas. Desertification and land degradation is caused by natural condition and overgrazing and over cultivation.
Which is the relevance of applying DeSurvey to the site?	DeSurvey could describe the relation between land degradation, and certain land use vulnerability, and agricultural policies/farmers attitudes.
Might the site be complementary of other conditions?	It is a complement to the ecological North-east zone for monitoring the changes in vegetation in northeast China and the zone for soil monitoring from south to east of China.
Might the site allow comparative analysis with other sites?	It is quite reasonable to make it compared the typical grassland in the northwest and to the typical cropland ecosystem in the southeast of China, even for comparison analysis with other EU sites.
Which is the relative impact of policy/subsidized, market and subsistence economy on land use structure?	Land use policy had put severe impacts on the land use change in China. In the last 10 years, market becomes the major factor manipulating the changes of land use.
Which are the potential users of DeSurvey products in the site?	The local government, local land management agencies, and related Institutions and Universities.
Research projects in the site	Biological processes of land desertification and vegetation restoration in Horqin Sand Land, National basic research project (973): It is closely related to land degradation and desertification evaluation Monitoring on environment change in Horqin Sand Land, Chinese Academy of Sciences: The output of this monitoring can be used to validate the DeSurvey methods Demonstration on restoration of degraded vegetation in Horqin Sand Land, National key project: The output will demonstrate how the restored vegetation can be sustainable maintained Re-vegetation and sustainable agriculture development in relation to the Carrying capacity of water resource in Horqin Sand Land, Inner Mongolia key project: The goal of the project is to efficiently use the natural resources, especially the carrying capacity of water as a limiting factor in dry land of northern China for a sustainable development strategy Evaluation of desertification in Horqin Sand Land, Sino-Japan-Korean joint project: It includes poverty relief and clean energy development. It is closely related with DeSurvey objectives.
Information database	Only available for DeSurvey consortium