[Objective] To analyze land cover change in Kumtag Desert and its surrounding area.[Method] Remote sensing was applied to monitor land cover change in reseach area

and the TM images of the study area in 1990s

2000s and 2010s were processed

three maps of land cover classification were separately obtained. The three maps were compared mainly on the changes in vegetation and desert using ArcGIS software.[Result] (1) Vegetation increased in area

but it only covered a small proportion of all the land area; a large proportion was covered by gobi and bare land; (2) Desert area increased in the first decade and decreased in the second decade. Overall

it increased as the former outweighed the later; (3) Wetlands had the most serious vulnerability

because its changes depend on the accumulation and water loss.[Conclusion] Human beings started to improve the ecological environment

and achieved some success. The south margin of Kumtag Desert of the mountainy land are the key areas needed to be controlled and protected of desertification

and to be revegetated.