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A Green Oasis in the Desert

Sustainability

Since 2015, tesa China has been regularly involved in the “Million Tree Project” – a tree-planting campaign in the Mongolian desert. The goal: to counteract global warming and desertification.

Text Johanna Schörck

The “Million Tree Project” was launched by the environmental protection organization “Shanghai Roots & Shoots.” Since 2015, the tesa China Team has been involved in the ecological project and regularly took part in the initiative. This year, tesa employees donated 3000 trees and sent six volunteers to participate in the tree-planting expedition in Inner Mongolia.

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Challenge in the desert sand – the “Million Tree Project” covers the Taminchagan desert with grasses and shrubs.

The Forest is Growing

After a three-hour car ride to the Taminchagan desert, the colleagues were first taught under expert guidance how to trim a tree skillfully. Equipped with their new knowledge, the team first trimmed older trees in the nearby poplar forest to grow better and stronger. The voyage of the tesa employees then continued to Kezuohou Qi. Others had already performed good prep work, so when our crew arrived at the desert, there was a larger green area of grass and shrubs.

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50 volunteers, 668 new trees – the revegetation is working.

To further recultivate the area, the team planted trees typical for the region, such as Scots pine. The big challenge had been the strong wind that stirred up the desert sand around the area. However, by the end of the day, the desert had gained exactly 668 trees thanks to the approximately 50 volunteers’ perseverance.

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Working in the desert – six tesa employees from the China Team took part in the tree planting project in Inner Mongolia.
"Participation in this project has had a major impact on me and I have learned a lot about environmental protection. This experience will remain with me throughout my future life and work."
Ethan Xin

Senior Sales Engineer

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Trees for Climate Protection

Trees extract the greenhouse gas CO₂ from the atmosphere through carbon sequestration and wood growth: Trees convert carbon (C) into biomass using photosynthesis and emit oxygen (O₂) into the air. According to a Yale University study and 23 other universities, there are approximately 3000 billion trees on earth. This seems like quite a lot, but the study also concludes that humans have already destroyed 46 percent of all trees that ever existed. Even today, some 15 billion trees are cut down each year.