2013 FCSI Asia Pacific Tree Planting in Duolun(R1)
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2013 FCSI Asia Pacific Tree Planting in Duolun, Inner Mongolia (April 4-7) Introduction to Duolun FCSI Asia Pacific Division, Suite 901 The Hong Kong Club Building 3A Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong Phone number: 3125 7631 Fax number: 3125 7632 E-mail: [email protected] 2013 FCSI Asia Pacific Tree Planting in Duolun, Inner Mongolia (April 4-7) Duolun, Wade-Giles romanization To-lun, Mongolian Dolon Nor or Doloon Nuur, town, southeast- central Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, northern China. It is situateD close to the borDer of Hebei province. Until 1950 the town was in the former Chahar province. Historically, Duolun was an important town. It was the site of ShangDu (the Xanadu of Samuel Taylor ColeriDge’s poetic fragment “Kubla Khan”) unDer the Yuan Dynasty (1206–1368), 15 miles (25 km) northwest of the present-Day town. It was founDeD by the Mongolian leader Kublai Khan in 1256 anD became the summer capital of the Mongol emperors of China. Duolun is situateD in the southern part of Xilin Gol League, 180 kilometers north of Beijing. It has an agricultural population of 100,000 anD an annual average rainfall of 400 millimeters. With an area of 3700 square kilometers, less than 2% of the total area of the Xilin Gol League, Duolun has over half of the League's surface water resources with 47 rivers anD more than 60 lakes, which are the major headstream of the Luanhe River anD the Miyun Reservoir in Tianjin anD Beijing. Duolun County previously was an important political District with the best grasslanD in the League. About 200 years ago During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the grasslanD was reclaimeD for growing crops,anD the forest in the south of the county gradually DisappeareD, causing the sanDy lanD in the north to move southwarD. After the founDing of the People's Republic of China, the county was assesseD as a national key county of poverty. Among all counties in Xilin Gol League,Duolun has the best natural conDitions, but suffers the most from Desertification anD sanDstorms. In the miD 1990s, the ecological environment of Duolun Drastically DeteriorateD. 70% of its lanD turneD into Desert, forming large areas of moving Dunes anD becoming one of the sources of sanDstorms that threateneD Beijing anD Tianjin. Currently, pine trees (photo on the left) inDigenous to the region, are being planteD by local government anD various voluntary groups to prevent further Desertification at Duolun. FCSI Asia Pacific has been participating in tree planting activities with NPO Greenlife http://www.npo-greenlife.org in Different Desert tree planting sites of Inner Mongolia since 2008. Tree planting certificates are available from Asia Pacific Division upon request. FCSI Asia Pacific Division, Suite 901 The Hong Kong Club Building 3A Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong Phone number: 3125 7631 Fax number: 3125 7632 E-mail: [email protected] This was the toughest tree planting trip ever, bus ride from Beijing to Duolun took much longer than expected (10 hours instead of 5) due to poor road conditions. The road condition is expected to be improved after completion of highway construction between Duolun and Beijing in October 2013. Local officials held a welcome ceremony at the tree planting site marking the occasion of 1st team of tree planting volunteers to green the desert of Duolun Due to the severe cold weather condition, a total of 300 pine trees were planted. Volunteers braved sub-zero temperature, strong gusty wind mixed with wind and snow, persisted in finishing planting all the trees. Even the local government officials were touched by our commitment and dedication to green our planet and combat climate change. FCSI handed over a total of 30,500 HKD in tree donations this year for the local people to continue with the rest of tree planting when the weather gets warmer. L to R: Tony Wang FCSI, Madam Yi, Clara Pi FCSI, Professor Liu Strong desert wind mixed with sand and snow did not dampen the spirits of the volunteers Pine trees waiting to be planted Duolun Tree Planting Site Bill Stella, FCSI Allied Member .