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Western Hainan Island is the only tropic region in China that is experiencing desertification. In this paper, we hope to reconstruct the evolution of desertification from 1959 to 2003 and identify the driving force during this process. Using remote sensing, mapping, GIS analysis and statistical analysis with climatic factors and human factors, we found five phases of desertification in the western part of Hainan Island between the late-1950s and the early-2000s. Desertification first developed rapidly, then reversed, and is now fluctuating, due to natural and human driving forces. Human activities interact with climatic factors. Copyright (C) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.