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Eight years passed quietly, and it seemed to be fleeting. However, for the Alxa Desert ecosystem, which is gradually recovering its vitality, this is undoubtedly a long period of patience and hard work.
When I set foot on this land full of unknowns again, I was thrilled and pleasantly surprised by what I saw!
Once upon a time, the land was covered with yellow sand, but now it is covered by verdant vegetation, and the once barren and desolate land is being revitalized. At the end of the line of sight, a forest of saxons stands proudly, and although the trees are still sparse and thin, they stand tall and tall on this barren land, as if to show the world the spark of hope.
I couldn't help but quicken my pace, eager to go deep into this forest and feel the traces of life here. Walking into the forest, I saw that although the trunk of the Saxon tree is slender, the branches have been covered with green new shoots, and its tough and powerful root system is deeply rooted in the soil, like a tenacious and unyielding little warrior, waging a fierce struggle with nature and unremitting struggle against the harsh living environment.
This kind of tenacious strength makes me feel extremely respectful in my heart.
2016 was the year when Mr. Ma became famous. Alibaba's founder has long since become a well-known business tycoon, but he has more than just business ideals in mind, but also a passion for environmental protection.
Over the years, Jack Ma has been paying close attention to the country's green development policy, and eagerly hopes that one day he will be able to personally devote himself to the great cause of ecological protection. Finally, in 2016, he had the opportunity to realize his dream.
That year, the mainland government solemnly proposed to vigorously promote the concept of environmental protection, and called on all people to actively participate in a green and low-carbon lifestyle. As an outstanding representative in the financial field, Jack Ma responded quickly and generously to launch a unique environmental protection public welfare project on the Alipay platform - "Grasshopper Forest".
The project cleverly guides people to start from the little things in their daily lives and cultivate low-carbon living habits. By simply choosing low-carbon behaviors such as walking or paying online to buy tickets, users can accumulate "green energy" on the online platform.
When the energy accumulation reaches a certain value, the user can use the energy to plant a real sapling in the Alxa Desert area in the real world.
Since the birth of the "grasshopper forest" project, it has quickly won high praise from the general public! Mr. Ma Yun, a charismatic leader, has devoted himself to this great environmental protection cause with incomparably fiery passion.
He emphasized all the time that each of us can start from ourselves, actively advocate a low-carbon lifestyle, and contribute to our shared green home with practical actions.
Under the enthusiastic guidance and encouragement of Mr. Ma Yun, the concept of "grasshopper forest" has spread rapidly throughout the country with an unstoppable momentum. Countless people are waiting patiently for the accumulation of energy values on the platform, just to be able to plant their own small saplings in the Alxa Desert, and many people are actively participating in this far-reaching public welfare activity by skillfully borrowing the energy of relatives and friends, or taking the initiative to water others.
The Alxa Desert, a vast desert in the heart of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, has long been one of the most affected areas of sandstorms on the mainland. Residents have long endured the ravages of sandstorms and live in a barren and dangerous environment.
It wasn't until 2015 that a shocking sandstorm once again put the name of the Alxa Desert in the focus of public opinion across the country. At that time, the sky in Beijing was instantly covered with yellow sand, visibility dropped sharply, and the tall buildings in the distance gradually disappeared into the endless yellow mist.
Pedestrians on the streets fled in a hurry, as if the end of the world was approaching, and the source of this remarkable sandstorm was from the Alxa area.
In the face of the great distress caused by sandstorms to the lives of local residents and the growing threat of land desertification, Mr. Ma Yun resolutely decided to invest in the afforestation plan of "Grasshopper Forest" in Alxa.
As the fourth largest desert in China, if it is not effectively managed, Alxa may lose all hope of recovery.
However, reforestation in this land with a dry climate and harsh environment is no easy feat. The first task was for Mr. Ma to carefully weigh and select the most suitable tree species for the local environment.
After careful consideration, he finally selected the Saxon tree as the first afforestation tree species.
The Suosuo tree has grown in the Alxa area since ancient times and can be called the "native tree species" of Alxa. The local herders and villagers revere the tree as the "guardian tree".
Once upon a time, the sky was full of the magnificent Suosuo forest, which stood like giants on the vast land of Alxa, and its sturdy body effectively resisted the invasion of wind and sand like strong winds and waves, thus firmly protecting this vibrant, picturesque oasis of the world.
As a veteran and outstanding entrepreneur, Jack Ma has a deep understanding and unique insights into marketing strategies. In order to make the "Grasshopper Forest" public welfare project more widely disseminated, he has wisely adopted a two-pronged and closely integrated online and offline strategy.
Online, he made full use of Alipay, a large-scale platform covering the whole country, to attract the active participation of users by building an energy accumulation system and carrying out low-carbon activities, while offline, he personally led the team to carry out actual tree planting work in the Alxa Desert, turning slogans and ideas into practical actions, so that it is deeply rooted in this land.
However, in the initial stage of planting the Saxon tree, Jack Ma's initiative was met with doubts and speculation from all walks of life. Many people said after visiting Alxa that they could only see the signs of the forests in the Alxa area, but they could not find any trace of the saplings, and all they saw in front of them was an endless desert yellow sand.
As soon as these feedbacks spread on the Internet, they immediately detonated the suspicion and controversy of the majority of netizens. Many people directly accused Jack Ma of only promoting and promoting the Alipay brand, rather than sincerely upholding the concept of environmental protection and public welfare.
In the face of such fierce doubts, Ma Yun did not flinch, but firmly stated his original intention. As both an entrepreneur and a philanthropist, he is passionate about business and philanthropy.
Ma admits that in the early stages of the "Grasshopper Forest" project, the whole process was relatively slow due to the characteristics of the trees and the professional requirements of their cultivation, and the expected results have not yet been shown.
However, he will never give up easily, although planting trees in the desert is a difficult and long task, but as long as we persevere and go all out, we will eventually usher in the dawn of victory.
The root cause of the rampant sandstorms is the serious damage to the ecological balance. If we want to really curb the threat of sandstorms and improve the living environment in the Alxa desert area, the power of the Saxon tree alone is obviously far from enough.
Jack Ma, a talented entrepreneur, knows that afforestation is a basic measure to protect the natural environment, but it is undoubtedly a crucial strategic step to build a natural and resilient ecological protection barrier to completely eradicate the problem of land desertification.
After considering this reality as a whole, in the process of deepening the Ant Forest project, Ma Yun made a decisive decision to introduce more rich and diverse tree species to build a more comprehensive and complete vegetation system.
What deserves our great attention is that in the spring of 2019, the Alxa area, sponsored by the Green Foundation, once again welcomed the planting of 150,000 Saxon saplings, injecting new vitality into the already thriving Saxon forest.
At the same time, the Ant Forest platform has also launched two new and upgraded products, Salix and Sea Buckthorn, to attract more like-minded friends to participate in this great cause of green environmental protection.
Salix, a resilient vegetation in the Alxa Desert, has successfully resisted the erosion of moving mobile sand dunes due to its remarkable resilience. Whenever a stormy sandstorm comes, Salix always stands upright, holding its lush branches and leaves, providing shelter for local residents, and undertaking the important mission of "preventing wind and fixing sand".
Sea buckthorn, on the other hand, is a magical vegetation with many excellent characteristics. First of all, it also has extraordinary sand fixation ability, and can maintain vigorous vitality in extremely harsh environments.
More importantly, sea buckthorn is known as the "king of nectar plants", which can attract a large number of bees to collect nectar, greatly enlivening the biodiversity of desert areas.
When sea buckthorn blooms every year, it is also the most beautiful season in the Alxa area. After the baptism of winter, when the warm sun re-fills the earth, patches of sea buckthorn bloom and exude a rich fragrance.
The intoxicating aroma not only attracts bees to dance, but also breathes new life and vitality into the desert ecosystem, where spiders, insects and birds come to feed and roost in a concerted effort to rebuild the biome.