Political advisers called for the protection of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region's grassland, the nation's largest green belt, which is threatened by desertification.

Relying heavily on animal husbandry, the region must put ecological preservation higher on the agenda when developing its grassland-related industries, Dong Hengyu, a political adviser, said at the annual meeting of Inner Mongolia's advisory body, which closed on Thursday.

Inner Mongolia had 76 million hectares of grassland by the end of 2010, or one-fifth of the nation's total, and 70 percent of the region's total land is covered by prairie.