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Desktop farmers plant trees in desert
By Fei Lai |
April 8, 2012, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
MANY people want to plant trees to protect the environment but they are tied to their desks and cannot pick up a shovel. Now they can tend virtual trees that translate into real trees in sandy Inner Mongolia. Fei Lai digs in.
For around 10 years, Yi Jiefang has been holding back the desert by planting trees in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region - initially to honor the wishes of her son who died in a car accident in Japan. Today, she is passionate about the cause and has funded the planting of more than 1 million trees.
A Shanghai native, Yi founded the nonprofit organization (NPO) GreenLife, an environmental protection pubic interest group dedicated to tree planting and halting desertification in Inner Mongolia. Loss of trees and plants means land erosion and contributes to serious air pollution as winds blow the sands and industrial particles from the Gobi Desert eastward across China and toward Korea and Japan.
On March 12, Yi and her organization launched the latest project called Desktop Tree, in which people plant a virtual tree on their own computer desktop, downloading it from www.desktoptree.com, and watering it for three months. Then GreenLife plants a real tree in Inner Mongolia, using sponsorship funds from government, enterprises, media and individuals.
So far, more than 9,300 people from all walks of life have been growing desktop seedlings. They come from many walks of life, from students to white collar workers, from unknowns to celebrities.
"The purpose of the project is to encourage tree planting," says Yi, who is in her 60s. "With more than 500 million Internet users in China, many of them playing online games such as 'Online Farm,' it is easier to stir up enthusiasm for planting trees nationwide via the Internet. I'm gratified to see so many people involved."
Sad inspiration
Behind Yi's good deeds, there's a sad story. When he was only 22 and a student at Japan's famous Chuo University, Yi's son died in an auto accident. At the time Yi and her husband were living in Japan. Yi had moved there for study when she was 38 years old; her husband and son followed.
Yi read her son's notebooks and found that he had been concerned about sandstorms in China. "He had dreamed of being able to grow trees in China to ease the problem and then I decided to fulfill his dream," Yi says.
She established NPO GreenLife in Japan. She resigned her job and her husband closed his medical clinic. They sold their house and took all their savings and compensation from the car accident, using the funds to plant trees in China.
For the past 10 years they have been moving back and forth between China and Japan. More than 1.1 million trees were planted by the end of 2010, saving 667 hectares from the encroaching desert and turning the area into an oasis. Many trees have reached a height of 10 meters or more; the survival rate is around 80 percent.
Yi considers tree planting as a way of extending her son's life.
The first period of the GreenLife project ended in 2010; the second phase involves planting in the western part of Inner Mongolia, where the situation is even worse.
"I face big difficulties in manpower and resources. Fortunately, I am getting more and more support from people, media, government and enterprises," Yi says.
Now the nonprofit is able to raise more than 1 million yuan (US$158,806) each year for tree planting, she says. "That means another 667 hectares will be covered."
The desktoptree.com website is maintained daily by volunteers from the IT industry.
Charlie Chen, one of the initiators of desktoptree.com, together with his IT friends, first learned online about Yi's tree planting and paid her a visit. They presented the idea of desktoptree.com and immediately clicked with Yi. The team of six does graphic design, programming, operations, maintenance and marketing.
"Many people want to help the tree planting cause but they are unable to spend the time and effort needed because they're so busy working at their desks," Chen says.
"We are very touched by Yi's spirit and she has opened a door for us. This online desktop tree project can help solve this problem."
Chen says the message is that the world can be changed with small efforts, the click of a mouse, by many people.
"I believe there will be more people taking part and planting trees."
For more information and detail, check www.desktoptree.com.
For around 10 years, Yi Jiefang has been holding back the desert by planting trees in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region - initially to honor the wishes of her son who died in a car accident in Japan. Today, she is passionate about the cause and has funded the planting of more than 1 million trees.
A Shanghai native, Yi founded the nonprofit organization (NPO) GreenLife, an environmental protection pubic interest group dedicated to tree planting and halting desertification in Inner Mongolia. Loss of trees and plants means land erosion and contributes to serious air pollution as winds blow the sands and industrial particles from the Gobi Desert eastward across China and toward Korea and Japan.
On March 12, Yi and her organization launched the latest project called Desktop Tree, in which people plant a virtual tree on their own computer desktop, downloading it from www.desktoptree.com, and watering it for three months. Then GreenLife plants a real tree in Inner Mongolia, using sponsorship funds from government, enterprises, media and individuals.
So far, more than 9,300 people from all walks of life have been growing desktop seedlings. They come from many walks of life, from students to white collar workers, from unknowns to celebrities.
"The purpose of the project is to encourage tree planting," says Yi, who is in her 60s. "With more than 500 million Internet users in China, many of them playing online games such as 'Online Farm,' it is easier to stir up enthusiasm for planting trees nationwide via the Internet. I'm gratified to see so many people involved."
Sad inspiration
Behind Yi's good deeds, there's a sad story. When he was only 22 and a student at Japan's famous Chuo University, Yi's son died in an auto accident. At the time Yi and her husband were living in Japan. Yi had moved there for study when she was 38 years old; her husband and son followed.
Yi read her son's notebooks and found that he had been concerned about sandstorms in China. "He had dreamed of being able to grow trees in China to ease the problem and then I decided to fulfill his dream," Yi says.
She established NPO GreenLife in Japan. She resigned her job and her husband closed his medical clinic. They sold their house and took all their savings and compensation from the car accident, using the funds to plant trees in China.
For the past 10 years they have been moving back and forth between China and Japan. More than 1.1 million trees were planted by the end of 2010, saving 667 hectares from the encroaching desert and turning the area into an oasis. Many trees have reached a height of 10 meters or more; the survival rate is around 80 percent.
Yi considers tree planting as a way of extending her son's life.
The first period of the GreenLife project ended in 2010; the second phase involves planting in the western part of Inner Mongolia, where the situation is even worse.
"I face big difficulties in manpower and resources. Fortunately, I am getting more and more support from people, media, government and enterprises," Yi says.
Now the nonprofit is able to raise more than 1 million yuan (US$158,806) each year for tree planting, she says. "That means another 667 hectares will be covered."
The desktoptree.com website is maintained daily by volunteers from the IT industry.
Charlie Chen, one of the initiators of desktoptree.com, together with his IT friends, first learned online about Yi's tree planting and paid her a visit. They presented the idea of desktoptree.com and immediately clicked with Yi. The team of six does graphic design, programming, operations, maintenance and marketing.
"Many people want to help the tree planting cause but they are unable to spend the time and effort needed because they're so busy working at their desks," Chen says.
"We are very touched by Yi's spirit and she has opened a door for us. This online desktop tree project can help solve this problem."
Chen says the message is that the world can be changed with small efforts, the click of a mouse, by many people.
"I believe there will be more people taking part and planting trees."
For more information and detail, check www.desktoptree.com.
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