2019年8月，12家公司，80位企业志愿者穿过黑河-腾冲线，来到了这条线以西的宁夏灵武白芨滩国家级自然保护区，亲身感受荒漠化，并身体力行固沙治沙。保护区位于中国四大沙地之一的毛乌素沙地一角，在这里，我们主要带领志愿者通过扎制草方格和种植灌木两种方式体验荒漠化治理过程。
In August 2019, 80 volunteers from 12 companies passed through the Heihe-Tengchong line, entering the Baijitan National Nature Reserve in Ningxia, experiencing desertification and participating in desert control. The reserve is located in the corner of the Maowusu sandland, one of the four major sandlands in China. Here, we mainly lead volunteers to experience the process of combating desertification by making straw grid and planting shrubs.
我们第一天的主要任务是将刚从苗圃里培育出来的手掌大小的治沙小能手——柠条苗——栽植到沙地中。当然，这对于大部分并没有来过沙漠的志愿者而言并不是一件容易的事。来自禧玛诺的一名志愿者就谈到：“个人理解和真实实践还是有很大差别的，我起初按照自己的理解卖力地挖出来了一个坑，最后被当地专业工人给送去’回炉再造’了。” “这和在自己公司种盆栽和蚂蚁森林线上植树完全是两回事”，理光中国的一名志愿者也苦笑地补充道。不过，志愿者在工作人员和当地专业工人的指导下，逐渐摸到了门道。两批志愿者前后总共种植了超过80框、4500株左右的柠条苗。让我们一起静候，等待时间的栽培，让它们慢慢长大。
Our main task in Day1 is to plant hand-sized bare root seedings of Caragana Korshinskii Kom, which is good at desert control, into the sandland. But of course, this is not an easy task for most volunteers who have not been in desert before. One of volunteers from SHIMANO said: “Personal understanding and real practice are very different. I dug a hole very hard, at first, according to my own understanding, but it turned out to be unqualified for planting as instructed by local workers.” “This is totally different from growing a bonsai or online Ant Forest planting.” A volunteer from RICOH added. However, under the guidance of local workers and our team members, volunteers gradually find tips on planting. Finally, more than 80 baskets, about 4,500 bare root seedings of Caragana Korshinskii Kom were planted. Let’s give them time, and wait patiently.
第二天的任务是扎制草方格。对于治理荒漠化，第一步要先固定沙丘。志愿者们将废弃的秸秆沿一条线均匀平铺在沙地上，再用铁锹从秸秆中部用力踩压，麦草两端会自然竖立形成天然屏障。连片的草方格将有效降低地表以上20-30厘米的风速，减少风的输沙量。就这样一锹一锹，志愿者们在一个小沙丘的坡面上扎制的草方格从天上俯瞰的确有模有样，对于初次接触这样工作的企业志愿者来说实属不易。
Day 2, make straw grids. To protect sand from moving is the first step to control desert. Volunteers paved abandoned straws evenly on the sandland along a line, and then step on a shovel from the middle of straws, so that two ends will stand up as natural barriers, which can effectively slow down wind speed 20~30 centimeters above the ground, and therefore reduce the amount of sand transported by the wind. Gradually, from above, the straw grids on a slope constructed by volunteers look really good, it is not a simple job for volunteers, especially it is their first time.
第二天下午，志愿者们参观了位于保护区内的防沙治沙展览馆，并在一片留作对照用途的未经治理的沙丘上拍照玩耍。虽然志愿者们两天的体验对于当地的熟练工而言只是一个人几天的工作量，但是对于初次体验的志愿者来说却是一个亲近自然、了解荒漠的过程。这个过程正回应了珍·古道尔的期望——唯有了解，我们才关心；唯有关心，我们才会采取行动；唯有行动，生命才会有希望。
In the afternoon, volunteers visited Desertification Prevention and Control Exhibition Hall in the Nature Reserve, and took photos and played on a dune that is intended for comparison purposes. Even though the work in two-day experience for volunteers can easily be done by a professional worker within several days, it is a valuable process for them to get close to nature and get to know desertification. And the process echoes with the Jane Goodall’s expectation — Only if we understand can we care; Only if we care will we help; Only if we help, shall all be saved.
对于远在万里之外的亚马逊火灾可能我们无能为力，但是通过这个项目，对于眼前的荒漠，我们还是力所能及的。
We may be incompetent for Amazon’s fire miles away, but through this project, we can do our best for the desert in front of us.
