Horqin Desert

Our thanks to Timberland’s marketing manager for Singapore, Cheryl Kow, for detailing her tree-planting experience in the Horqin Desert for us.  Here is the final installment in Cheryl’s Horqin Chronicles:

We move out early again for a full day of tree planting, which I’m really looking forward to. Our destination: Gabo Desert, just half an hour from the hotel.

Horqin dunes in the early stages of greening

The bus stops at the beginning of a dirt trail and we clamber 3 apiece into small Jeeps which will take us to the main tree planting areas. The back of the Jeeps are too small to sit, so we stand in a row holding the helm. The wind works up the cold in our faces and we watch the barren landscape give way to expansive fields of green grass and gold sunflowers and a sinuous sky of blue ice, against a faraway backdrop of layers and layers of swelling hills that seem to continue forever. We pass maize fields, rice fields. We see sheep, cows and tractors. It’s the pastoral life at its flourishing best and it’s stunning.

In about 10 minutes, we’re back in the desert. We disembark and Mr. Kitaura rounds us up to explain what we’re here to do: build a grid of squares using hay, called Si Fang Ge (literal translation: 4 sided box); the grids help to block the wind and hold the sand in place. Poplars are then planted within each square and the grids ensure protection against the elements and an increased chance of survival.

He speaks briefly of the severity of desertification.  The past saw the threat of invasion of proud warriors on armored horseback. While this may no longer pose a threat in modern times, the mainland and Japan are now seeing a second invasion, this time in the form of sand. The desert is dramatically expanding at 10,000 square km per year and affecting the quality of life of the two said countries, evidenced by the apocalyptic sandstorms from the north that assault both Japan and China, especially during the summer months.

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Day Two of Cheryl Kow’s Horqin Chronicles, detailing her recent tree-planting experience in the Horqin Desert in Inner Mongolia:

After a breakfast buffet of Chinese staples (fried and steamed pancakes, rice and millet congee, eggs and pickled vegetables), we set off for Agura Desert, where the bulk of the “Timberland Forest” stands. 

The road to Agura is lined with tall poplars designed to “catch” strong winds from blowing into the desert.  Beyond that, we see wide open sand spaces. There is some beauty in its desolateness.  

Tree planting volunteers in the “Timberland Forest” in the Horqin Desert.

Upon our arrival we are welcomed by Mr. Otaki and Mr. Kitaura, two guides from Green Net.  Established in January 2000, Green Net is a Japanese non-profit organization that has undertaken the uphill task of reforestation and education in an effort to reverse the desertification process.  Timberland has partnered with Green Net for the last 8 years.

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Desertification is a growing environmental problem, particularly in Asia where rapid population growth and land overuse are taking their toll in agriculturally-dependent communities. To help combat desertification, Timberland sends a group of volunteers each year to plant trees in the Horqin Desert in Inner Mongolia – an ever-expanding barren region that generates massive migrating dust clouds which negatively impact air quality in China, Japan and other Asian countries.  To date, Timberland has planted approximately 700,000 trees in the Horqin Desert – major progress toward our commitment to plant one million trees by 2010.

The Horqin Desert is located in North China’s Inner Mongolia

Timberland’s marketing manager for Singapore, Cheryl Kow, was among the Horqin volunteers during the annual tree-planting trip in September and agreed to share her thoughts and experiences with us here on Earthkeepers.  Below is the first entry in Cheryl’s Horqin Chronicles:

Two colleagues and I touch down at the Shenyang Airport at around 11am via Beijing and meet the other Horqin volunteers from Taiwan.  Together we pile into a small van which will take us through Shenyang into Tong Liao province in Inner Mongolia, where the tree planting activities will take place.

It’s a 4-hour ride into the sprawling metropolis of Shenyang in Northwestern China.  I am surprised by its modernity.  Extensive, multi-storied shopping complexes peer out at us as the van navigates new and sophisticated highways.  The familiar red and blue Carrefour insignia whizzes past us.

The urban skyline falls behind the horizon, giving way to a deserted and rustic city as our van pulls up a dusty road to the hotel where we will set base for the next three days. After a quick check-in, we’re on our own until dinner, when the Japan team will arrive.

A colleague and I take a walk around the dusty town, wandering past dilapidated buildings and a couple of new construction sites.  A recently-built amusement park helps bring some tourists, which explains the surge of newer hotel establishments, but we still wonder about the lack of people walking the streets.

Our entire group meets for dinner at the hotel, chatting among ourselves about the next two days.  We are all anxious and excited to get to work in the Horqin Desert.