Plant 10,000 Trees in Northern China

From July 20th to 27th, eight volunteers and the Million Tree Project team went to Horqin Zuoyi Houqi in Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia to carry out a week-long forest ecological survey. Despite the scorching sun and torrential rain, the volunteers stayed enthusiastic about the field work, visting 7 forests and 50 sample sites all together, and observing, learning and recording a total of 14,398 plants of 45 species.

The volunteers learned about a variety of unique plants: the formidable Cryptophyllum coarse, the beautiful Corethrodendron scoparium, and the ubiquitous Cenchrus spinifex Cav......In addition to the forest ecological survey, the volunteers also participated all kinds of activities such as vegetation coverage measurement, desertification workshop, and biodiversity workshop.

On the last day of the survey, volunteers put on the 25th anniversary T-shirts of Shanghai Roots & Shoots. The green T-shirt, which symbolizes harmony with the earth, blended with the vegetation of the forest, and the sweat of the volunteers and the hope of the green were sown on the land at this moment.

Links:

• For more details on the summer survey

This year marks the 17th anniversary of MTP, and a total of over three million trees will be achieved in the project area of Inner Mongolia. In April, 88 volunteers from 14 companies and 2 schools participated in the tree planting trip in Inner Mongolia. There were lots of old branches underneath the ground in the planting site of this year, making it extremely difficult to dig on. The volunteers were planting trees despite of all the hardships and strong sandy wind. By the steps of spacing, digging, planting, and soil filling, 1314 poplar trees were planted all together.

The volunteers visited Taminchagan Desert on the third day of the trip. The silver white desert and crazy sandy wind certainly made it memorable. At the same time, our staff introduced the backgroud information about desertification and what it is caused by, making them understand more intuitively and realize the necessity of desertification control. On the way out of the desert, some people voluntarily picked up the garbage along the roads, leaving a cleanup space behind.

Moreover, the volunteers went to the forest site where a mix of poplars and pines were planted in 2012 to prune trees. Pruning could make the trees grow taller and more upright, thereby playing a better role in windbreak and sand fixation. The volunteers were particularly impressed by the significant contrast between the thin saplings planted by hand on the second day to the tall poplar trees pruned by hand next day, the totally different feelings stepping on the loose sands compared to on the rich soil.

On the last night of the planting trip in Inner Mongolia, the volunteers shared their reflections and thoughts. Thinking of the tree holes they dug, the sand blown on the face and the beautiful tree rows, the volunteers started to understand the special meaning of tree planting. They expressed strong wishes to personally take part in the action of making our planet more beautiful and sharing the spirit of afforestation with family and friends. Perhaps after a decade, the volunteers would come back to the once-sandy-land where they planted the saplings, revisit their own poplar trees.