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Final Report for “Green Wall” to Stop Desertification of the En Ge Bei Desert in China
People, and 8,000 Trees, Move a Desert
The Project
It is an activity of planting trees in the
desert which has operated two years. In the one year since the spring
of 1997, 108 citizen/volunteers went to En Ge Bei Desert,
Inner Mongolia. They planted 1,888 trees.
In 1998, spring many volunteers asked to plant trees in the desert,
they hoped that they would have the collective power to
stop the advancement of the En Ge Bei by planting trees.
The People
Most volunteers were members of organizations in Beijing, others were
pupils from Beijing the Eigth Middle School. 11 pupils were
from Da Yu School, Jiang Su Province. Many volunteers are Beijing
citizens, newspersons, teachers, etc.
They were voluntarily to join this planting
tree in desert activity. People used holidays and weekends and
volunteered their time to plant trees in the desert. Their train
ticket was at their own expense. On weekends of the plantings,
volunteers left Beijing for Chi Feng on Friday evening at 8:00 and were
back on Monday morning at 6:00.
July 1, after the spring tree
planting |
Volunteers hope to continue this activity in 1999
and beyond because it is very important to deal with the desert issue
in China. The desert comprises 27.3% of all of the ground in China, and is
expanding. If we hope to change desert issue we must continue to plant
trees.
There were four separate batches [of volunteers] that went to the Ke Er Qin Desert,
Chi Feng [Province], in Inner Mongolia:
In the first batch, there were 214 volunteers that went to Ke Er Qin
Desert in April 10-13 1998.
In the second batch, there were 124 volunteers that went to Ke Er Qin
Desert on April 24-27 1998 again.
In the third batch, there were 83 volunteers that went to Ke Er Qin
Desert on April 29-2 May 1998.
In the fourth batch, there were 137 volunteers that went to Ke Er Qin
Desert on April 29- May 3 again.
The participating organizations included:
- Communication Group, CRAES
- Xin Hua News Agency
- Ru Meng Company
- Qing Hua University
- Beijing Language University
- Beijing the Second Railway Middle School
- Beijing Ke Xing Middle School
- The Middle School Attached to the Beijing University
- Beijing the Fifth Middle School
The Results
Virtual Foundation funding was used in starting this activity, in the
purchase of saplings, accommodations, meals, communications fees, and
the transportation of 29 students and their parents to the desert sites (see photo above).
This activity got some support from "Chang Chun She" Hong Hong and
local government too.
Since its inception two years ago, 559 persons have volunteered for
the Green Wall project. During this time, they have planted about 8,000
trees to slow the advancing En Ge Bei desert.
-Written by: Jin Jaiman, Virtual Foundation Consortium Member, China