2025 Inner Mongolia Planting Trip Review

“No Pain, No Gain”.

At first, we didn’t take the proverb seriously. When heavy snow, strong winds and even sands hit, everyone realized that the road of planting treeswas not easy. Sometimes it takes a storm to make a rainbow. 

From April 4 to 14, 72 volunteers from 9 companies and 2 schools participated in the tree planting trips in Inner Mongolia. The volunteers worked hard together to plant trees to fight desertification. In spite of the wind-blown sand, snow and rain pummeling the planting site, the volunteers planted 1077 poplars on the sandy land, and had the most unforgettable experiences. 

After putting on gloves and picking up the shovel, volunteers walked into the bare sandy land in rows. Wild weather brought strong wind, sudden rains, hail and snow, and it’s extremely difficult to dig holes on the frozen land. It was a challenge for all the volunteers. 

Volunteers also visited the Taminchagan Desert and went to the MTP forest planted in 2011 and 2012 to prune trees. In the desert, strong winds rolled up sand and kept knocking hit on the faces of volunteers. In the forest, tall and upright tree rows became a natural shelter for the volunteers, protecting them from the wind.

During the event, the staffs from SRS introduced the backgroud information about desertification and what it is caused by, making volunteers understand more intuitively and realize the necessity of desertification control.

On the last night of the planting trip, volunteers shared their feelings with each other. The volunteers tasted the hardship on fragile and dry sandy land and in the strong winds and heavy snow. Trees would grow and provide shelters in the future. The road of planting trees is an extremely arduous one that requires generations to work on it. But after a storm, there will always be a rainbow, and tree planting led us to a greener future. 

Special thanks to Oji Paper, L’Occitane and Yellow Mountain Rose Valley Co. Ltd. for sponsoring and supporting this tree planting trip!