From August 12 to 19, 2026, the Shanghai Roots & Shoots Million Tree Project (MTP) carried out its annual Ningxia Forest Survey at the Baijitan National Nature Reserve. Over the course of one week, a team of five volunteers and MTP staff surveyed eight afforestation sites. The annual forest survey is an important part of MTP’s long-term monitoring work, which enables the team to assess the effectiveness of desertification restoration and provide valuable information for future forest management and maintenance.
Volunteers hiking in the forest. Photo by Feiyang Long
One of the most distinctive techniques used to fight desertification in Ningxia is the straw grids, which can reduce wind speed at the ground surface and stabilize shifting sand dunes with shrubs. The survey adopted a random sampling method, with 100-square-meter sample plots selected within the forest site. Where the grids were still visible, they were used to define the plot boundaries. In older sites where the grids had gradually weathered away, the boundaries were determined according to the planting rows of the shrubs.
Volunteers conducting the survey within straw grids. Photo by Min Zhang
Once each sample plot was established, the team worked along two survey lines simultaneously. One group focused on shrub measurements, using rulers to record the height and crown size of shrubs like Caragana Korshinskii, Hedysarum scoparium, and Calligonum arborescens to track their growth. At the same time, the other group conducted a vegetation inventory, identifying every plant species within the sample plot and carefully counting the number of each individual plants.
Volunteers are measuring shrubs. Photo by Feiyang Long
Volunteers are counting plants in the sample plot. Photo by Jiayuan Guo
Within a few days of fieldwork, volunteers observed remarkable between forests planted in different years. Forests planted more than ten years were filled with thriving Caragana shrubs, thick layers of fallen leaves, and well-developed biological soil crusts. In areas with harsher environmental conditions, vegetation recovery was slower. Meanwhile, in some newly planted forests, although the shrubs were still young and relatively small, the ground already showed encouraging levels of vegetation coverage and surprising diversity of plant species.
The original 2015 forest site, taken in July 2015
The 2015 Forest after ten years of restoration, taken in August 2026
Allium mongolicum found in the forest planted in 2025. Photo by Jiayuan Guo
The year 2026 marks ten years of partnership between Shanghai Roots & Shoots and the Baijitan National Nature Reserve. Since 2015, the Million Tree Project has planted more than 2 million shrubs and restored over 713 hectares of desertified areas, contributing to the long-term recovery of this fragile ecosystem. During just one week of fieldwork, the volunteers walked through thousands of hectares of MTP forests, witnessing the changes over the ten years. Yet this journey also also offered an important reminder: for this land, transforming sand into soil takes decades of patience, care and continued commitment.
Aerial view of the 2015 & 2025 Ningxia Forest. Photo by Kai Wang
We extend our heartful thanks to the Baijitan National Nature Reserve for their continued support and partnership, and to our five volunteers for their dedication and hard work throughout the survey. As we look ahead to the next decade of the Million Tree Project, we hope many more people will join us in walking through these forests, witnessing the transformations with us.