NOTE FROM JONAH: This is Part XI of XII in “The Million Tree Project” a video series documenting Shanghai Roots & Shoots efforts to combat desertification in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China.

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When I met Robin Rose in Kulun Qi, Inner Mongolia I asked him if he would mind talking to me on camera about the reforestation project we were filming for Shanghai Roots & Shoots.

Dr. Rose said to me, you can talk to me — but only if you read this book first. Rose reaches into his jacket and pulls out a pocket size version of “The Man Who Planted Trees.” Now mind you, Robin Rose is the type of man who keeps a pocket size version of books in his jacket, just in case pesky journalists want to talk to him. 

So, I said — fair enough. Took the book and read it in about an hour (its a short book — about 4000 words long). Not only is it short, but its great. One that I would now encourage anyone and everyone to read, because the message of the book is strong, simple and yet open for some interpretation.

The book tells the tell of a shepherd who independently builds an entire forest during the narrators life. Although its highly allegorical and (questionably) fictional there are some real life stories which mimik the story of this shepherd. One man who battles the same fight as author Jean Giono is the man above, Dr. Robin Rose.

Rose is a senior advisor to Shanghai Roots & Shoots but has worked on reforestation projects around the world. His message is strong and not exactly the most positive one. He has seen the best and worst of what is happening to the world’s forests. When he speaks, he does so with gravity that touches on the reality of climate change and the earth’s current and upcoming environmental challenges. 

While I made 12-short films about the Million Tree Project, one film featured Dr. Rose. This film is appropriately called “The Man Who Planted Trees” and can be seen here.

Beyond Dr. Rose’s efforts and Shanghai Roots & Shoots’ Million Tree Project there are many other examples of real life examples of the author’s tale. From Wikipedia we learn about a couple:

Real-life people in other countries have produced similar effects. Abdul Karim in India created a forest out of “nothing” over a period of 19 years, using the same method as Bouffier.^[1] An organization called Trees for the Future has assisted more than 170,000 families, in 6,800 villages of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, to plant over 35 million trees.^[2] Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prizerecipient, founded the Green Belt Movement which planted over 30 million trees to restore the Kenyan environment.^[3] In China, Shanghai Roots & Shoots, a division of the Jane Goodall Institutelaunched The Million Tree Project in Kulun Qi, Inner Mongolia to plant one million trees to stop desertification and alleviate global warming.^[4][5]

The character of Bouffier has some similarity to the legendary early 19th century American tree planter Johnny Appleseed. Another tireless promoter of tree-planting is Marthinus Daneel, Ph.D., Professor of African studies at Boston University and founder of ZIRRCON (Zimbabwean Institute of Religious Research and Ecological Conservation). Daneel has worked with churches for years planting millions of trees in Zimbabwe. Due to instability in Zimbabwe in recent years, such efforts have been significantly curtailed. Similarly, concerned about global warming, Bhausaheb Thoratplanted 45 million seeds after being inspired by the book. For this he started the Dandakaranya Abhiyaan in June 2006 at Sangamner, Maharashtra, India (Sangamner is on Pune-Nasik highway).UNEP has taken notice of this campaign in its A Billion Tree Campaign in which almost 45 million seedlings have been planted.^[6] Harmony magazine Tina Anil Ambani has an article on Bhausaheb Thorat’s global warming awareness efforts and his Dandakaranya Abhiyaan in the December 2008 edition.^[7]

• To buy this book (only 99 cents used) click here.
• To learn more about Dr. Robin Rose click here.
• To learn about Roots & Shoots’ Million Tree Project and how you can help click here.
• To see my short film “The Man Who Planted Trees” Click here.

Shanghai Roots & Shoots’ Million Tree Project, which began in 2007, aims to raise community awareness of the Earth’s precious environment while focusing on steps individuals can take to lessen their negative impact on the natural world. The project gives individuals and organizations an opportunity to fight global warming by planting oxygen-producing trees in Inner Mongolia, China. It also encompasses true capacity building as the local population is intimately involved with, and benefits from, every step of planting, maintaining and monitoring the trees.

The Million Tree Project is designed to improve both ecological and humanitarian conditions of Kulun Qi, Tongliao municipality, lnner Mongolia, We chose this project site because the area suffers severely from desertification and its consequential sandstorms. These sandstorms strike Inner Mongolia and its surrounding areas each spring, destroying local homes and forcing many people to flee their native land.

The Goal: Shanghai Roots & Shoots aims to plant one million trees in the Inner Mongolian desert by 2014. We have a long-term Memorandum of Understanding in place with the Forestry Bureau of Kunlun Qi to reach this goal, and have secured land for one million trees (planting an average of 1500 trees per hectare). As of April 2010, we have planted 400,000 trees.

Learn how you can help at mtpchina.org

NOTE FROM JONAH: This is Part VIII of XII in “The Million Tree Project” a video series documenting Shanghai Roots & Shoots efforts to combat desertification in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China.

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Shanghai Roots & Shoots’ Million Tree Project, which began in 2007, aims to raise community awareness of the Earth’s precious environment while focusing on steps individuals can take to lessen their negative impact on the natural world. The project gives individuals and organizations an opportunity to fight global warming by planting oxygen-producing trees in Inner Mongolia, China. It also encompasses true capacity building as the local population is intimately involved with, and benefits from, every step of planting, maintaining and monitoring the trees.

The Million Tree Project is designed to improve both ecological and humanitarian conditions of Kulun Qi, Tongliao municipality, lnner Mongolia, We chose this project site because the area suffers severely from desertification and its consequential sandstorms. These sandstorms strike Inner Mongolia and its surrounding areas each spring, destroying local homes and forcing many people to flee their native land.

The Goal: Shanghai Roots & Shoots aims to plant one million trees in the Inner Mongolian desert by 2014. We have a long-term Memorandum of Understanding in place with the Forestry Bureau of Kunlun Qi to reach this goal, and have secured land for one million trees (planting an average of 1500 trees per hectare). As of April 2010, we have planted 400,000 trees.

Learn how you can help at mtpchina.org

NOTE FROM JONAH: This is Part VII of XII in “The Million Tree Project” a video series documenting Shanghai Roots & Shoots efforts to combat desertification in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China.

Tweet

Shanghai Roots & Shoots’ Million Tree Project, which began in 2007, aims to raise community awareness of the Earth’s precious environment while focusing on steps individuals can take to lessen their negative impact on the natural world. The project gives individuals and organizations an opportunity to fight global warming by planting oxygen-producing trees in Inner Mongolia, China. It also encompasses true capacity building as the local population is intimately involved with, and benefits from, every step of planting, maintaining and monitoring the trees.

The Million Tree Project is designed to improve both ecological and humanitarian conditions of Kulun Qi, Tongliao municipality, lnner Mongolia, We chose this project site because the area suffers severely from desertification and its consequential sandstorms. These sandstorms strike Inner Mongolia and its surrounding areas each spring, destroying local homes and forcing many people to flee their native land.

The Goal: Shanghai Roots & Shoots aims to plant one million trees in the Inner Mongolian desert by 2014. We have a long-term Memorandum of Understanding in place with the Forestry Bureau of Kunlun Qi to reach this goal, and have secured land for one million trees (planting an average of 1500 trees per hectare). As of April 2010, we have planted 400,000 trees.

Learn how you can help at mtpchina.org

This is part III of A busy month behind the camera: Planes, trains, automobiles, donkeys, police cars and tuktuks, a travel log that details the month of April where I traveled through Xi’an (central China), Shanghai (East China) and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China (far North China).

This post brings you to Inner Mongolia for an article on desertification with China Daily reporter Daniel Chinoy, who I’ve worked with on a couple assignments now. In this part of China, degraded grasslands, nearby deserts and strong wings across what used to be rolling green hills, are some of the causes which create an effect called desertification. Sands are growing at such an alarming rate — they are making the land unfarmable and unlivable. Roughly 28 percent of China is now classified as desert. That’s an area of about 2.6 million square kilometers, or about seven times the size of Germany.

We followed Shanghai Roots & Shoots, Jane Goodall’s NGO, in a tree planting program. Trees help create a stable top soil which can stop the sands from spreading. The NGO’s “Million Tree Project” aims at both actual tree planting and adult and child education.

The most interesting part of the trip came when we decided to walk aimlessly into the dessert — in attempt to see for ourselves the spreading desert. The photo below is a 360 degree, 11 photo (242 megapixel) stitch of a high point I found in the desert. Click here or on the photo for a larger version. This is a bit confusing. The mound on the left side of the photo is the same mound on the right. However, the perspective on the right mound is facing South, while the perspective of the left mound is facing North. This enormous area was once completely covered with grass. Farmers lived here for thousands of years in a sustainable way. Now, you can see — this land is hardly farmable. However, if you look to the right hand side of the photo you can see five small silhouettes of people. These are Mongolian farmers.

Lessons from getting into a drinking
match with Mongolian farmers

I saw these farmers in the distance — and we decided to approach them to find out what they were doing out in the middle of nowhere. Turns out, this was their land. Growing up, their families farmed this land. They had herds of sheep and cattle that used to graze here. Coincidently, when we found them — they were also planting trees in attempt to gain their land back. These farmers were doing this independently under no government organization, program or NGO. They were sustenance farmers — only farming to live. Now, they are planting trees to live. However, the effects of tree planting are not quick. Ecologists with us said it might take over a decade to see the effects of their efforts.

The woman at the top of this post was one of these farmers. We spent the afternoon with the farmers watching them plant trees in sand. Since we had walked hours to get into the desert, the farmers offered us a ride back on their donkey cart, which than turned into an offer to come back to their house for some drinks. While debating if we should take up their offer of Mongolian hospitality, freelance photojournalist Sean Gallagher who was with us said with his most polite British accent, “well, we could go and have just one … it might be rude to say no.” These were Sean’s famous last sober words.

45 minutes later, we are in a stone house sitting at a table with 5 Mongols backed with pictures of Mao and Genghis Khan being taught how to pronounce the Mongolian word for “bottoms up.” Possibly spelled “Эрүүл мэндийн төлөө” and pronounced “Hundter,” this is not a friendly word like “cheers.” This word is for starting and finishing whatever is in your glass; it is far from a casual drinking idiom. In Chinese they say Gan bei 干杯 (“dry the cup”) and in English we might say “bottoms up.”

While this might not be a big deal if you were drinking beer, it is a big deal when you are drinking unlabeled, homemade Baijiu 白酒 served in a former vinegar bottle that would be filled up instantly if it were not full. If you’ve never had Baijiu, it tastes a little like gasoline mixed with Jägermeister and grappa. It is by far the most popular alcoholic drink in China and is pretty much everywhere in some form or another. If the above description didn’t make you want to throw up, drinking it surely will. Sean’s polite gesture to have one drink turned into about 10-15 from what we can all remember. Although this experience was very painful the next day, we did get some great stories out of the Mongolians about life in the desert today — and how different it was from their days growing up here.

The two lessons to take away from this hangover are:
1) Sometimes to get your story — you have to drink local booze and hope you don’t go blind.
2) No American or Englishman will ever out drink a Mongolian farmer.

Vanishing Grasslands: China’s Growing Sands

In four days in Inner Mongolia I took about 700 pictures and recorded about 20 GB worth of video. About 6 photos will be used next week in China Daily and a mixed media project will go to chinadaily.com.cn. You can see an early preview of the video here now as well as an extended edit of photos. This is a good example to show how much work we produce versus how much work is actually published. You can tell which photos I like or thought were the best by which ones appear in the video below. If your in China, and not using a VPN, the YouTube video won’t show up below. You can see the Quicktime version here).

I’ve just donated this media (photos and video) to Roots & Shoots. The video is also being turned into a 30 second spot ad for Roots & Shoots for television and iTouch media. So look out — you might be seeing a mini-version in Chinese cabs soon.