GREEN DESERT YEP JUN 2010
March 6, 2010
GREEN DESERT PROJECT
Youth Expedition Project (YEP)
NORTHERN CHINA – INNER MONGOLIA
A Community Service Project organized by ASIAN JOURNEYS
A Youth Expedition Project supported by National Youth Council (Singapore)
On 3 Jan 2010, Asian Journeys’ Green Desert YEP team comprising young leaders led by an architect, marketing manager, teachers as well as youth participants from Beyond Social Services, met for the first team preparation session over baked rice, curry puffs, snooker and team games.
This marked the first step of a journey towards the Jun 2010 YEP trip to Inner Mongolia for the team. Over the next 6 to 9 months, the team will gather regularly to learn through training and service and contribute creatively to environmental education and stewardship efforts both in Singapore and China.
Asian Journeys’ Green Desert Project was one of the projects highlighted at the National Youth Council YEP Networking Session on 6 Dec 2008 held at the NYC, Somerset Road.
Over 40 youth leaders were invited by the YEP team to consider organizing youth expedition teams to various ASEAN countries as well as China and India.
Lawrence Ko, AJ’s ED, was one of the speakers who shared about youth social engagement through the YEP. Lawrence challenged the youth leaders, many of them who were finishing their military stints or were already in the universities, to get involved in social activism and organizing young people for community change.
Citing Reinhold Niebuhr, the great American thinker in the 20th C, Lawrence asserted that “It is better to be creative than to be learned. Creativity is the essence of life.” There is much that can be done to study and understand the social challenges facing Asia and the environmental challenge is but one of these.
Later at the rug sessions, Benjamin Lim, a volunteer leader of Asian Journeys and president of AJ’s Green Desert Club, was at hand to also enthuse inquirers who were exploring getting involved in China projects especially the Green Desert project to help build the Great Green Wall of China through tree-planting in the northern provinces and countryside of China.
We welcome youths and adults interested to join us as Green Volunteers as we serve together to engage and mobilize more young people in this journey towards Environmental Stewardship.
A. Desertification in Northeast Asia (China)
Desertification is the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas. It is a gradual process of the loss of soil productivity and the thinning out of the vegetative cover resulting from human activities and climatic variations such as prolonged droughts and floods. What is alarming is that the land’s topsoil, which takes centuries to build up, can, if mistreated, be blown and washed away in a few seasons. Among human causal factors are overcultivation, overgrazing, deforestation and poor irrigation practices. Such overexploitation is generally caused by economic and social pressure, ignorance, war and drought.
The Chinese authorities have made the battle against desertification a top priority and are investing huge resources in putting it in check. There is a massive reforestation programme, a plan to lay down a “Green wall” of trees and plants stretching from Beijing to Inner Mongolia, and farmers are being urged to cut back on livestock numbers.
B. Background
Asian Journeys organised two trips to Duolun couny in Inner Mongolia in 2009, to study the efforts by the local government to combat desertification since 2001. In 2010, Asian Journeys will be allocated a plot of land for tree-planting as part of the partnership with the local government and forestry department of the county. It has a been a journey of learning and collaboration lasting over 8 years.
In Sep 2002, Asian Journeys was invited by the local governments of Duolun and Dalateqi in Inner Mongolia to participate in tree-planting conservation program. A site visit was made in September 2002 with a small team of enthusiasts to meet local officials and understand the proposed projects. Asian Journeys will embark on organizing a 5-year program 2007-2011 to mobilize Singaporean youths in partnership with China youths from Beijing to participate in the Green Desert project viz., to plant trees both in Beijing and in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia. The Youth Expedition Project (YEP) supported by National Youth Council of Singapore is one of the learning programmes which can help accomplish these goals and objectives.
C. Objectives
A. To help Singaporean youths develop awareness of Environmental issues in general and of the growing problem of desertification in North East Asia in particular, especially in Inner Mongolia
B. To help Singaporeans learn and participate in Green Desert Environmental Promotion Efforts in Beijing, the capital city which faces some of the worst sandstorms of all time because of the growing desertification of the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, especially in the lead up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics
C. To rally youth volunteers from Singapore, Beijing and Duolun county to join in reforestation efforts through tree-planting, and addressing issues related to macro and micro policies, technology and urban lifestyles to ensure sustainable development
D. Goals: To Help Address the Issue of Sandstorm and Air Pollution in Beijing and Inner Mongolia due to Desertification in Northern China Grasslands
1. By researching and raising awareness of the need for environmental protection through youth-initiated programs in Singapore to educate and mobilize resources
2. By identifying with the local populace and leaders of Beijing city and Inner Mongolia province in their myriad of efforts to confront the environmental problem of sandstorm and air pollution due to desertification through various programs to jointly educate and raise awareness of the global efforts in addressing issues of desertification and environmental degradation.
Other project partners past and present include:
Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing YMCA, Shanghai YMCA, UNISIM (Singapore), NTU Environmental Engineering dept, Ngee Ann Pol;ytechnic (Sch of Life Sciences), ITE College East and corporate partners such as Hyflux(Hydrochem in Shanghai)
And past participants include student volunteers from NUS, NTU, Singapore Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Nanyang Polytechnic, Nanyang JC
For more information and partnership possibiltiies, please call:
Project Team Leaders: Keith Khoo and Joyce Lim
Project Core Members: Sashi, Shunting, Jian Man
Project Coordinator: Lawrence Ko (Tel +65-9742 9493) or email lawrence@asianjourneys.org