Shifting Sands

Below is an article I wrote for my Chinese class and published on my WeChat moments! My time here in China has led me to do some really interesting research and travel to some amazing places, like Inner Mongolia. Thank you to Providence College and IES Abroad for giving me this opportunity~

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自从上世纪50年代，中国的北部森林开始被砍伐。随着中国开始工业化，越来越多的工厂依赖木材来生产燃料。从那以后，沙漠化问题就出现了，并且继续恶化。戈壁沙漠在中国北部和西北省扩大了1600多公里，没有天然树木来控制其沙土的覆盖，面临着不断的恶化。如今，戈壁正以每年3600平方公里的速度扩大，给许多人、牲畜和城市化带来了严重的问题。比如，北京和其他甚至远离沙漠的城市都遭受了沙暴，面临水资源匮乏。

Since the 1950s, the northern forests of China began to be chopped down. As China began to industrialize, more factories relied on wood to fuel production. Since then, the problem of desertification has arisen and only continues to worsen. The Gobi desert, which expands over 1,600 kilometers of northern and northwestern Chinese provinces, faces significant expansion without the natural trees to keep its sands contained. Today, the Gobi is expanding by an annual 3,600 square kilometers and creates serious problems for many people, livestock, and plans for urbanization. For example, Beijing and other cities even far away from the desert have been hit by sand storms and face shortages of water resources.

为什么我关注这个问题？ 我既不是中国人，也不住在中国， 可是环境的问题影响大家的生存。

Yet, why do I, as a foreigner who does not even live in China, care about the issue of desertification? It is simply because environmental problems affect the lives of all people living on planet Earth.

为了解决这些问题，中国已开始实施再造林的策略。尽管政府已经启动了许多计划，比如自从19世纪70年代启动的三北方护林（“绿色长城”）计划，但是私企也开始承担保护环境的责任。我要重点关注的是阿里巴巴的“蚂蚁森林”计划。

To combat some of these problems, China has begun to adopt reforestation measures. While the government has started many programs, such as the Three-North Shelterbelt Program (known colloquially as the “Green Great Wall”) plan initially started in the 1970s, private companies have also begun to bear the burden of environmental sustainability. The initiative I want to focus on is Alibaba’s Ant Forest initiative.

2016年8月，阿里巴巴宣布了“蚂蚁森林”计划。这个项目通过支付宝并跟踪用户的步数(number of steps)和碳足迹（即通过他们的不同出行方式），比如，如果用户步行多走或者使用公共交通工具，支付宝则会给他们奖励积分。用户可以使用这些积分在阿里巴巴的应用程序上购买虚拟树。用户可以选择树的种类，把树种在哪里，而阿里巴巴将在现实世界中种植它。现在，在中国北方的地区，已经有阿里巴巴种植的森林。这些努力帮助中国实现计划种植世界上最大的人工森林。截至2017年8月，蚂蚁森林已经吸引了2.3亿用户，并且已经种植了1025万棵树，这是其推出“蚂蚁森林”计划第一年的巨大成功。我们可以想象现在的数据已经增长了很多。

In August 2016, Alibaba announced its Ant Forest initiative. This project would utilize Alipay and track users’ steps and carbon footprint (that is, through their different modes of transportation). For example, if a user were to walk more or use public transportation, Alipay would award them points. The accumulation of these points would then be used to buy a virtual tree. The user can pick their tree and Alibaba would plant it in the real world in an effort of reforestation. Now in some areas of northern China, there are whole Alibaba forests, and these efforts are a part of China’s project to plant some of the world’s largest artificial forests. At of the end of August 2017,  Ant Forest had already garnered 230 million users and had planted already 10.25 million trees – a tremendous success for its first year of just launching. We can imagine that the data reflects much more growth now.

我来分析一下蚂蚁森林的优势和劣势。蚂蚁森林的发起肯定会引起人们关注沙漠化的意识，从而让人们参与到环保的活动。因为中国的城市化已经开展很多年， 很多市民对远离他们生活的地方的环境问题并不了解。蚂蚁森林帮助人们关注他们日常的出行方式、帮助他们意识到自己对环境的影响和贡献。我尝试使用了蚂蚁森林，我很惊讶地看到我的碳足迹。住在上海的我非常依赖滴滴出行，因为很方便， 可是我很容易忘记这些方便的选择会造成高碳排放。另外一个优势是阿里巴巴提供的平台让人们可以有机会参与到环保活动中。以前，没有很多可以参与的环保活动，可能只是让人们付钱或者捐款。蚂蚁森林让个人可以参加到比较大的计划中，每个人都可以做出自己的贡献。

While Ant Forest has plenty of advantages, this initiative, however, is not without its criticism. Ant Forest certainly helps raise users’ awareness surrounding the issue of desertification and allows people to partake in action towards climate justice. Users can become more aware of carbon footprint, and how their daily actions impact the environment. I also have tried Ant Forest and I was surprised to see my own carbon footprint. Since I live in Shanghai, I rely a lot on Didi for its convenience, however, when making these convenient choices, it’s easy to forget our impact on the environment. Ant Forest is also one of the first apps of its kind to allow users to individually contribute to environmental causes. Before, many apps would require payment or donation; yet, Ant Forest allows users to use their daily life to rack up points and allows users to feel that individual actions are meaningful and contribute to the greater good.

但是蚂蚁森林也有很大的问题。主要的问题是很多蚂蚁森林提供给用户选择的树的种类不适应沙漠的环境。因为很多这些树和植物不属于中国北方沙漠生态系统，种植后不容易成活，所以可能并不能对防止沙漠扩大起很大作用。

The biggest problems, though, are the efficacy of the trees planted by Alibaba. Some reports show that nearly half of the trees which had been planted had quickly died. Many of the trees and plants that users can redeem on Ant Forest are non-native to the desert ecosystems of northern China, therefore, they ultimately provide no resistance against the expanding desert sands.

用户应该考虑私企为环境保护的动机。难道私企真的想保护环境吗？

It’s important that users consider the intentions of private companies in their involvement towards climate justice: beyond altruism, these initiatives can feel like nothing more than a big advertisement and a means for profit-gain.

阿里巴巴为什么要做这件事？蚂蚁森林为阿里巴巴带来很多的好处。因为人们只可以通过阿里巴巴的平台参与蚂蚁森林，阿里巴巴可以推广它们的平台也可以获得很多新的用户。蚂蚁森林也让人们跟其他人互动，让人们依赖阿里巴巴的另外一些服务，比如支付宝、淘票票（购买电影票）、手机充值、哈罗单车、包裹回收等等。蚂蚁森林也改变了阿里巴巴的企业形象。可能以前用户把阿里巴巴看作一家大公司，现在阿里巴巴的计划也让人们觉得阿里巴巴是一家有社会责任心的企业。

So, why does Alibaba want to start this initiative and be involved in the fight for climate justice? First off, Ant Forest brings Alibaba a lot of benefits. It allows more people to rely on their platform. For example, if users want use Ant Forest, they also have to use Alipay and a whole host of other Alibaba group apps. Ant Forest also helps Alibaba’s corporate image and helps promote a reputation of a socially responsible company.

自从上世纪50年代，中国的北部森林开始被砍伐。随着中国开始工业化，越来越多的工厂依赖木材来生产燃料。从那以后，沙漠化问题就出现了，并且继续恶化。戈壁沙漠在中国北部和西北省扩大了1600多公里，没有天然树木来控制其沙土的覆盖，面临着不断的恶化。如今，戈壁正以每年3600平方公里的速度扩大，给许多人、牲畜和城市化带来了严重的问题。比如，北京和其他甚至远离沙漠的城市都遭受了沙暴，面临水资源匮乏。

Since the 1950s, the northern forests of China began to be chopped down. As China began to industrialize, more factories relied on wood to fuel production. Since then, the problem of desertification has arisen and only continues to worsen. The Gobi desert, which expands over 1,600 kilometers of northern and northwestern Chinese provinces, faces significant expansion without the natural trees to keep its sands contained. Today, the Gobi is expanding by an annual 3,600 square kilometers and creates serious problems for many people, livestock, and plans for urbanization. For example, Beijing and other cities even far away from the desert have been hit by sand storms and face shortages of water resources.

为什么我关注这个问题？ 我既不是中国人，也不住在中国， 可是环境的问题影响大家的生存。

Yet, why do I, as a foreigner who does not even live in China, care about the issue of desertification? It is simply because environmental problems affect the lives of all people living on planet Earth.

为了解决这些问题，中国已开始实施再造林的策略。尽管政府已经启动了许多计划，比如自从19世纪70年代启动的三北方护林（“绿色长城”）计划，但是私企也开始承担保护环境的责任。我要重点关注的是阿里巴巴的“蚂蚁森林”计划。

To combat some of these problems, China has begun to adopt reforestation measures. While the government has started many programs, such as the Three-North Shelterbelt Program (known colloquially as the “Green Great Wall”) plan initially started in the 1970s, private companies have also begun to bear the burden of environmental sustainability. The initiative I want to focus on is Alibaba’s Ant Forest initiative.

2016年8月，阿里巴巴宣布了“蚂蚁森林”计划。这个项目通过支付宝并跟踪用户的步数(number of steps)和碳足迹（即通过他们的不同出行方式），比如，如果用户步行多走或者使用公共交通工具，支付宝则会给他们奖励积分。用户可以使用这些积分在阿里巴巴的应用程序上购买虚拟树。用户可以选择树的种类，把树种在哪里，而阿里巴巴将在现实世界中种植它。现在，在中国北方的地区，已经有阿里巴巴种植的森林。这些努力帮助中国实现计划种植世界上最大的人工森林。截至2017年8月，蚂蚁森林已经吸引了2.3亿用户，并且已经种植了1025万棵树，这是其推出“蚂蚁森林”计划第一年的巨大成功。我们可以想象现在的数据已经增长了很多。

In August 2016, Alibaba announced its Ant Forest initiative. This project would utilize Alipay and track users’ steps and carbon footprint (that is, through their different modes of transportation). For example, if a user were to walk more or use public transportation, Alipay would award them points. The accumulation of these points would then be used to buy a virtual tree. The user can pick their tree and Alibaba would plant it in the real world in an effort of reforestation. Now in some areas of northern China, there are whole Alibaba forests, and these efforts are a part of China’s project to plant some of the world’s largest artificial forests. At of the end of August 2017,  Ant Forest had already garnered 230 million users and had planted already 10.25 million trees – a tremendous success for its first year of just launching. We can imagine that the data reflects much more growth now.

我来分析一下蚂蚁森林的优势和劣势。蚂蚁森林的发起肯定会引起人们关注沙漠化的意识，从而让人们参与到环保的活动。因为中国的城市化已经开展很多年， 很多市民对远离他们生活的地方的环境问题并不了解。蚂蚁森林帮助人们关注他们日常的出行方式、帮助他们意识到自己对环境的影响和贡献。我尝试使用了蚂蚁森林，我很惊讶地看到我的碳足迹。住在上海的我非常依赖滴滴出行，因为很方便， 可是我很容易忘记这些方便的选择会造成高碳排放。另外一个优势是阿里巴巴提供的平台让人们可以有机会参与到环保活动中。以前，没有很多可以参与的环保活动，可能只是让人们付钱或者捐款。蚂蚁森林让个人可以参加到比较大的计划中，每个人都可以做出自己的贡献。

While Ant Forest has plenty of advantages, this initiative, however, is not without its criticism. Ant Forest certainly helps raise users’ awareness surrounding the issue of desertification and allows people to partake in action towards climate justice. Users can become more aware of carbon footprint, and how their daily actions impact the environment. I also have tried Ant Forest and I was surprised to see my own carbon footprint. Since I live in Shanghai, I rely a lot on Didi for its convenience, however when making these convenient choices, it’s easy to forget our impact on the environment. Ant Forest is also one of the first apps of its kind to allow users to individually contribute to environmental causes. Before, many apps would require payment or donation; yet, Ant Forest allows users to use their daily life to rack up points and allows users to feel that individual actions are meaningful and contribute to the greater good.

但是蚂蚁森林也有很大的问题。主要的问题是很多蚂蚁森林提供给用户选择的树的种类不适应沙漠的环境。因为很多这些树和植物不属于中国北方沙漠生态系统，种植后不容易成活，所以可能并不能对防止沙漠扩大起很大作用。

The biggest problems, though, are the efficacy of the trees planted by Alibaba. Some reports show that nearly half of the trees which had been planted had quickly died. Many of the trees and plants that users can redeem on Ant Forest are non-native to the desert ecosystems of northern China, therefore, they ultimately provide no resistance against the expanding desert sands.

用户应该考虑私企为环境保护的动机。难道私企真的想保护环境吗？

It’s important that users consider the intentions of private companies in their involvement towards climate justice: beyond altruism, these initiatives can feel like nothing more than a big advertisement and a means for profit-gain.

阿里巴巴为什么要做这件事？蚂蚁森林为阿里巴巴带来很多的好处。因为人们只可以通过阿里巴巴的平台参与蚂蚁森林，阿里巴巴可以推广它们的平台也可以获得很多新的用户。蚂蚁森林也让人们跟其他人互动，让人们依赖阿里巴巴的另外一些服务，比如支付宝、淘票票（购买电影票）、手机充值、哈罗单车、包裹回收等等。蚂蚁森林也改变了阿里巴巴的企业形象。可能以前用户把阿里巴巴看作一家大公司，现在阿里巴巴的计划也让人们觉得阿里巴巴是一家有社会责任心的企业。

So, why does Alibaba want to start this initiative and be involved in the fight for climate justice? First off, Ant Forest brings Alibaba a lot of benefits. It allows more people to rely on their platform. For example, if users want use Ant Forest, they also have to use Alipay and a whole host of other Alibaba group apps. Ant Forest also helps Alibaba’s corporate image and helps promote a reputation of a socially responsible company.

这些是我的想法。希望大家多多指教！我近来获得补贴去内蒙古实地研究这个话题。我会看看蚂蚁森林和三北方护林的实际情况，也会带给大家我的新发现。如果您们想关注我，请加我的微信！ 扫描这个二维码就可以加我哦～

Again, all opinions expressed in this article are my own, and I would really appreciate any feedback on the topic! Recently, I received a grant to do research on this topic, and this weekend I will go to Inner Mongolia to see the effects of the Three-North Shelterbelt project. Feel free to share your thoughts and follow me for updates on my research! Wechat ID: mstriuli