Timberland helps restore grasslands in Inner Mongolia

Barren grasslands in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region are gradually being returned to their original state, thanks to an initiative being led by VF Corporation, the global apparel-and-footwear giant best known for brands such as Timberland, The North Face and Wrangler.

The program's ultimate goal is to restore the grasslands by planting, and then sustaining shrubs and trees, while educating the local population on more sustainable farming practices.

Earlier this month, the company marked the planting of a total of 2 million trees in Tongliao, Horqin Left Back Banner - in the east of the region, bordering Jilin province - which officials are calling a significant milestone in its tackling of desertification in the north of China.

"Today's major achievement (of planting 2 million trees) signifies our continued commitment to protecting the environment, not just in the short term, but for future generations," said John Gearing, vice-president and managing director of Timberland & Sportswear, Asia-Pacific at VF Corporation.

Starting from 2001, Timberland and GreenNet, a Japan-based nonprofit organization, have partnered in greening activities in Inner Mongolia.

Colleen Vien, global sustainability director at Timberland, said: "Our community-service project here in Horqin was inspired by a Japanese employee who suggested that we should play a role in reforesting the Horqin Desert to help tackle the root cause of the sandstorms in her home country 1,500 kilometers away.

"We felt the idea was in line with our goal of advocacy of global issues, and so later we called on more employees to join."

Over the next 14 years, more than 700 hectares of trees have been planted - enough to fill 1,200 football fields - with "Timberland Forests", which are dotting the yellow desert like green stars, she said.

Takashi Otaki, co-founder of GreenNet, said the benefits of planting trees are not limited to slowing down the process of desertification.

"We are striving to make the whole local community a better place - economic revenue comes when the ecosystem is partially restored."

Otaki said farming productivity in the Horqin region has improved by an annual average of 3.9 percent between 2000 and 2010.

Born and raised in Tongliao, Wang Xiquan works with the program full time, preserving the trees planted by volunteers.

"Initially we didn't understand what was being planned, but many of us are leading a better life by selling wild mushrooms, grown beneath the trees," Wang said.

Wang Yanfei contributed to this story.