西北的烈日没有树荫，万里的荒野野草遍地。2024年8月，6位来自天南海北的志愿者汇集到宁夏白芨滩国家级自然保护区，与百万植树计划团队一起，开展一年一度的宁夏林地调查。
In the northwest regions of China, there is no much shade to shield you from the scorching rays of the sun. Countless weeds stretch far and wide in this vast area. Despite this, in August 2024, six volunteers gathered in the Baijitan National Nature Reserve in Ningxia and, with the Million Tree Project team, carried out the annual Ningxia Forest Survey.
2024年林地调查志愿者合影 廖慕盈摄
Group photo of volunteers for the 2024 Forest Survey. Photo by Muying Liao.
在林地中徒步的志愿者 郭珈源摄
Volunteers hiking in the forest. Photo by Jiayuan Guo.
宁夏的林地格外空旷，无数的草方格和灌木组成了大地的脉络，树在这里变得稀有。林地调查就在这草方格和灌木之间一个个约100平方米大小的样方中展开。志愿者需要辨认并数清在样方中有多少种植物、每种植物的数量是多少，同时还需测量样方中灌木的生长数据。
The forest sites in Ningxia are vast. Because of the harsh conditions, trees are not so common here. Countless straw grids and shrubs spreaded like veins across the ground. Among these grids, each sample plot for the forest survey would be an area of roughly 100 square meters. Volunteers had to identify and count the number of plant species in each sample plot. Additionally, they also measured the growth data for shrubs in the sample plots.
林地调查的样方由一个个草方格组成 郭珈源摄
The sample plots of the Forest Survey are composed of straw grids. Photo by Jiayuan Guo.
经过数公里的沙地徒步、确定样点及样方范围之后，一声令下，志愿者就开始投入到数草的过程中去。或是弯腰、或是趴地，每当碰到兴安虫实和雾冰藜这两种数起来成百上千的植物，毅力是不可或缺的。
After walking several kilometers on the sandy land reaching the sample points, then, the volunteers got to work. Bending over, kneeling, or sitting down on the ground, the volunteers had to spent as long as it needed to identify and count all the plants. Perseverance and patience are the keys while surveying the sample plots. The two most common plants, Corispermum chinganicum and Grubovia dasyphylla would easily be counted over thousands in one sample plot.
志愿者在样方中数草 郭珈源摄
Volunteers counting plants in the sample plots. Photo by Jiayuan Guo.
志愿者在测量灌木生长数据 郭珈源摄
Volunteers measuring shrub growth data. Photo by Jiayuan Guo.
于是，就如同白芨滩保护区的工作者们一样，宁夏林地调查的志愿者们也用自己的双腿和双手丈量着这里的一片片林地，用汗水测量这里的一个个植物，希望用行动守护这里的每一片绿色，让抵御荒漠化的故事在这里延续。
Like the local workers in the Baijitan Nature Reserve, the volunteers in the Ningxia Forest Survey weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty to go through each shrub and plant in the forest despite the intense heat, all to protect the ecosystem with their own actions. Their efforts contribute towards the fight against desertification, a fight that is still ongoing every day.
志愿者行走在白芨滩 郭珈源摄
Volunteers walking in Baijitan. Photo by Guo Jiayuan.