There are many branches of the Miao people in China,one of which is the Mashan Miao,who have been living in karst mountainous areas in southwest Guizhou Province.The Mashan Miao have adopted various measures for the conservation and effective utilization of the local ecological system and have made great achievements in this area.From the 1950s,their social environment has changed a lot due to political and economic movements.The rocky desertification in the Mashan area has gradually expanded. After the 1990s,relief work was carried out to address the desertification problem,but it was not very effective.We have been doing fieldwork in this area for more than 20 years and from our fieldwork records,we have found that the local Miao people have traditional ecological knowledge and skills that are of irreplaceable valuable for finding a solution for rocky desertification.Using the Miao knowledge we think a feasible way to control this disaster can be found.