Turning a Barren Land Green
Sustainability
In 2013, the foot of Cuiping Mountain in Yu County was a stretch of barren flats.
Located in the southern part of Zhangjiakou, Yu County was long defined by its ecological fragility. Sparse vegetation on its slopes and barren flats meant the land was locked in a cycle of severe soil erosion. For years, the idea of reclaiming such a desolate landscape seemed far-fetched. In fact, "planting trees in Yu County" had become a local punchline - a typical joke used to describe the impossible.
But when the laughter finally became as dry as the land itself, Wilmar's subsidiary, Yihai Kerry Arawana (YKA) decided to make the punchline a starting line.
In 2013, YKA chose the foot of Cuiping Mountain to turn that skepticism into action. It was a place where even grass struggled to take root, a stretch of barren flats that had remain unchanged for generations.
Volunteers from YKA organised for tree-planting.
The first steps were not particularly smooth.
When the call went out, volunteers arrived with plenty of passion but little experience. Many had never even held a shovel before, much less plant a tree. With the help of locals, basic knowledge, such as how to dig a proper pit and how deep to plant had to be explained on the spot.
While getting everyone organised took time. The work itself took even longer.
This was YKA's first volunteer tree-planting initative.
By the end of the day, the physical effort had come as a surprise. The ground was hard, the conditions rough, and not everyone was convinced it was something worth repeating. After all, it is difficult to imagine a barren hillside turning green, especially from the perspective of a single day’s work.
Since it was a volunteering activity, some did not return.
But some did.
They came back the following year. And the year after that. Over, and over again for the next decade.
Over time, the process became more structured. Teams were organised more deliberately. Advice was sought from those with experience. Practical improvements were made, including laying irrigation to give the saplings a better chance in difficult conditions.
Laying water pipes to improve irrigation.
Progress was gradual, almost easy to miss at first. Then, over the years, the hillside began to change.
By September 2025, more than 160,000 trees had been planted, turning what was once barren land green.
There was no single turning point for this project. It was simply the same work, repeated year after year, until the hillside was no longer as barren. However, the work is not done.
Today, efforts to expand these green barriers continue, with YKA holding multiple volunteering tree-planting sessions at Yu County annually. What began as a singular challenge has become a permanent part of our operations, ensuring that the progress made over the last decade is both protected and grown.