Grasslands in Inner Mongolia are important ecological barriers in North and Northeast regions of China. Ecological safety of the Beijing and North region is directly affected by the desert environment of Alxa, Western Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China, which is the largest Banner of Inner Mongolia, with a total area of 0.2702 million km². This region has been extremely susceptible to desertification because of its geography, topographical features, serious anthropological disturbances, and climate change for many years. This study focused on the mode of combating desertification when multiple stakeholders, including Government, NGO, and farmers participate, The objective of the study was to provide case studies and management advices for the protection of deserted complex ecosystem in this typical vulnerable ecological region. We conducted a survey of 16 communities in three Banners of Alxa, Inner Mongolia, a total of 550 questionnaires were randomly distributed and 501 (91.09%) valid questionnaires were recorded. Responses to the questionnaires were acquired through interviews and semi-structured interviews from September 2015 to April 2016. Firstly, the preliminary survey was conducted from September 1, 2015 to October 1, 2015. Subsequently, the questionnaire was revised based on the response in the preliminary survey and expertise. The first face-to-face interview was conducted from October 6, 2015 to December 25, 2015 and the supplementary investigation was completed from April 10, 2016 to April 22, 2016. All the interviewers were trained beforehand on how to conduct the sampling, make introductions, take notes, and fill out the questionnaires. Moreover, the indicators of population, temperature, livestock, and crop planting area in Alxa from 1980 to 2014 were collected. The Exploratory Factor Analysis in R Language was adopted in data analysis, all the items were subjected to KMO and Bartlett tests to check if they were suitable for the Exploratory Factor Analysis. The results based on the response capability of farmers showed that natural factors (including drought and the threat of insects and rodents) and artificial factors (industrial expansion, urban expansion, and agricultural increment) are the major reasons for environmental deterioration in this region. In recent years, implementation of policies, including ecological compensation and ecological migration, advocated by government and increasing awareness among farmers are the reasons for partial restoration of the ecosystem. In the future, raising the pace of ecological construction, investigating the protection mode of desertification based on "Governmental leadership, social action, and community participation" should be the main criteria for environmental protection and sustainable development in Alxa.