Yin Yuzhen | |
|---|---|
殷玉珍 | |
 Yin in 2024 | |
| Born | 1965/1966 |
| Years active | 1985-present |
| Known for | Combating desertification |
Yin Yuzhen is a Chinese woman known for her personal efforts to combat desertification over the course of 40 years. [1] [2] [3]
Yin Yuzhen | |
|---|---|
殷玉珍 | |
| Yin in 2024 | |
| Born | 1965/1966 |
| Years active | 1985-present |
| Known for | Combating desertification |
Yin Yuzhen is a Chinese woman known for her personal efforts to combat desertification over the course of 40 years. [1] [2] [3]
Yin Yuzhen is renowned for her extensive tree-planting efforts in the Uxin Banner of China's semi-arid western region, a personal initiative that grew into a significant state-supported reforestation project.
Beginning in 1985, Yin started experimenting with various plants in her backyard. Her primary goal was to combat soil erosion and reclaim the barren landscape. [4]
Over the years, the scale of her project expanded considerably, drawing increased attention and support both from local authorities and the wider community. [5] Her determined efforts eventually earned significant recognition and state support, resulting in substantial environmental improvements across the area.
Yuzhen was born in a small village in Jingbian County, Shaanxi Province. As the fifth of seven siblings, helping with housework and doing her part came naturally to her. Growing up in extreme poverty, she recalled that luxury items like rings or necklaces were unthinkable, as her family struggles even to afford basic necessities like clothing and food.
At the age of nineteen, her parents arranged her marriage to Bai Wanxiang, who lived in the extremely desolate Mu Us Desert.
Yin's first home in the desert was a basic cave structure. The floor was covered only with firewood and dry deadwood, and the roof was crudely constructed from an assortment of wood tied together with pieces of rope and straw. Upon first seeing the dwelling, she was devastated, weeping for seven days and consuming only water. [4] The living quarters were so small that she had to bend down to enter and curl up into a ball to sleep.
In the first forty days of living there, she reported not seeing another human being. The deprivation of social interaction was so severe that when she finally did see a man, she ran toward him, inadvertently scaring him away. [6] She often had thoughts of suicide, but stated that she lacked the means to act on them- there was no belt available to hang herself, nor was there a single tree in sight for miles.
The surrounding Mu Us Desert environment spanned 16,300 miles and was described as a sterile, suffering from a persistent wind that lasted from spring until winter. [4] These constant winds made travel difficult, essentially cutting Yin off from the rest of the country.
Yin often contemplated leaving the village. However, when she consulted her husband, he begged her to stay, proclaiming that he would not survive alone in the desert. [6]
Ultimately, fuelled by her inherent hard-working attitude and her sheer frustration with the harsh conditions, Yin made a life-altering decision. She resolved that she would rather wear herself out planting trees to combat the desert than be defeated by the environment. She decided that she would not resort to begging. Instead, she would actively fight and subdue the desert itself. As she began her monumental effort to fight the desolation, she created a song that she would sing to herself to maintain her resolve through the troubling times. [6]
Desert Hymn
The sandstorm in the Maowusa Desert is filling the skies
I wish for green trees in the desert to keep me company
I kept a tree alive and it started to spread
I wish that the lands would be fertile and abundant [6]
Yin quickly began her quest to transform the environment, a personal mission that started with a significant sacrifice- selling her family’s livestock in exchange for 600 saplings. She planted the first trees directly in front of her home, determined to turn the isolated desert into a lush, vibrant forest.
Despite her conviction, neither Yin nor her husband, Bai Wanxiang, knew much about forestation or planting trees, leading to significant trial and error. The harsh desert climate immediately challenged their efforts- powerful winds and severe drought killed nearly all the initial stock. Out of the 600 saplings planted, only twelve survived. [4]
Determined not to die in the desolate desert, Yin pressed on, using the twelve surviving trees to motivate her journey. To secure move sources, she and her husband worked building houses and doing farm labor, accepting saplings as payment. [4]
Over the next thirty years, Yin transformed her approach from simple planting to skilled ecological restoration. She learned how to change the barren landscape into a thriving forest teeming with life that had been absent for decades. As the prior void of life turned a new page, she welcomes the animals that returned, treating them as if they were her children.
Through her efforts, Yin discovered that the water sources in the desert were exceedingly deep, often reaching 390 feet down. Because of this, predicting the weather became crucial, with the last snowfall serving as a key indicator. She began preparing several saplings in advance to accurately anticipate the number of trees that needed to be planted in that limited, specific window, giving them the best possible chance for survival. [4]
Initially, Yin focused on planting trees such as willows and poplars. However, she soon discovered that the lifespan of these trees only lasted for several decades. She found a much longer-lasting alternative in pine trees, which can survive for several thousands of years.
As a result of her persistent actions, Yin was recognized in 2005 as an ideal worker in China for safeguarding the environment, and her efforts quickly gained government support. [4] Yin stated that before the media discovered her, she had nothing, but afterwards, she was suddenly "fludded by all this support and funds" that lifted her out of her difficult leaving conditions and transformed her into a national icon. [6]
The government's support and agenda caused the afforestation efforts to explode. Yin was subsequently nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by the Chinese Government. The government, funding these extensive efforts, quickly realized that the desert could indeed be tamed by the determined work of individuals like Yin. Promptly, they south to achieve their goals there with the creation of a monocultural forest (a forest composed mainly of a single species of tree).
Yin has expressed concerns regarding the ecological health and long-term sustainability of the large-scale reformations efforts, particularly those driven by the state.
She noted that the initial mass planting of poplar trees has created an ecological imbalance. While poplars grow quickly and are profitable- making 57.9% of the Uxin Banner's tree sales in 2019 [5] , they pose a significant environmental risk. Poplar trees thrive by drawing heavily on deep groundwater sources. This excessive use of deep water can deplete the water table and dry out the surrounding soil, resulting in desertification. [5] This outcome defeats the original purpose of planting the trees, as the effort to fight the desert unintentionally creates another one.
This issue aligns with broader national critiques: Large-scale afforestation programs, despite achieving massive forest coverage (up to 29% of China), are heavily dependent on resources and often use rapid monocultural planting tactics that degrade the environment. As observed by scholars like Shixiong Cao of China’s Agricultural University, such methods negatively impact soil moisture and hydrology, and have resulted in a low long-term survival rate for planted trees (estimated at only 15% in northern China since 1949). These efforts can also accelerate land erosion and increase sandstorm frequency instead of establishing a self-sustaining ecological balance. [7]
Yin suggests that the rapid, target-driven forestation tactics, often fuelled by state goals rather than careful, sustained effort, can destroy the very ecosystems they aim to save. [5] The creation of monocultural forests (planting a single species) is volnerable to disease and lacks the resilience of a natural ecosystem. Efforts carried out in the name of "ecological salvation" can lead to negative social impacts, such as green-grabbing (the appropriation of land for environmental purposes), which can uproot individuals living in the targeted environment. [5]
Yin has noted that her existing trees lack topsoil and currently require constant watering to survive. Based on her experience, she argues that for an ecosystem to be truly self-sufficient, it requires a diversification of various factors, including different tree species, as well as the presence of animal and fungal species.
As a result of her overall success, Yin gained significant government support, allowing her to plant not just pine trees but also a variety of economic crops and wildlife, including watermelons, pear trees, peach trees, apricot trees. [4] Her backyard experiment has now been transformed into an ecological park that is bursting with life, and its production generates considerable revenue for Yin and her family. Her reclaimed environment is in constant expansion due to outside investment aiming to meet China’s ambitious afforestation efforts.
Yin had deliberately left her old life and simple, rough clothing behind, embracing her new role. She stated that coming into the public spotlight means she now cares about what people think of her, as she feels she must be constantly viewed as a model worker, a mantle the Chinese government has established for her. [6] She often wears her favorite green coat, a gift from the media, viewing it with high spirit as a reminder of all she has overcome. [6] The trees have become more than mere plant life to her- like the animals that inhabit them, she views the trees themselves as her children. She draws strength from them, stating that she feels like a warrior emerging from gunfire when she is surrounded by them, a testament to her transformation. [6]
She has since left her original dwelling for a modern house and now has four children and six grandchildren. Even in her later years, Yin continues to look for growth in many aspects of her life, quite literally, as she now has an ecological friendly restaurant, an office building, and a patriotism education base in her vicinity. [4] Her success has inspired others in her village to fight back against the sand by planting similar trees to control the desert. Her once-barren farm is now an ecological tourism center, attracting people from all walks of life to observe her perseverance.
In 1978, China launched comprehensive anti-desertification efforts to combat desert areas of Northern China. Data from the State Forestry Administration shows that national forest stratification has grown from 5.05% in 1977 to 12.4 in 2012. [8] Many attribute feats like this to Yin, who, far from halting her expansion of greenery, continues to look forward. hoping to draw out economic opportunities from this once desolate land by harvesting mass amounts of economic crops.
Yin'a individual achievement is seen as an example of China's commitment to building an Ecological Civilization, aiming to combat climate change and pollution. [7] Her forests help address the severe air quality issues; caused by an export-driven economy heavily reliant on coal power (65% of power), by transforming barren wasteland into oxygen-producing areas, which is critical for reducing China's carbon impact and mitigating adverse public health effects from air pollution. [9] [10]
Yin’s afforestation efforts have garnered recognition from the highest levels of the Chinese government. During the 2020 National People's Congress, Chinese Communist Party General secretary Xi Jinping praised the actions of individuals like Yin, describing them as a remarkable achievement and an overall improvement of the ecology in China. [4]
In addition to being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by the Chinese Government, Yin has been recognized by numerous organisations both on the Chinese mainland and abroad, receiving over sixty awards. In 2013, she was honoured with the Somazzi Prize, which is awarded to individuals who exemplify efforts of astounding peace and achievement regarding human rights. [8] Later, in 2015, she received further recognition in China when she was elected as one of the Ten Persons of the Year to Devolution of Homeland China. [8]
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